Torn
by ShylaLeigh
Summary: Crossover story of BATB and MKP. Det. Catherine Chandler first crosses paths with Det. Benjamin Wesley on a possible homicide investigation covered up as a suicide. The two detectives will have to work together, or against each other, to protect the ones they love.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hello fanfic friends! Had some spare time and thought, why not give a try at a crossover story? Just here to have fun, I do not own any of these characters and do not get any form of compensation for this story. This fanfic about the characters (and actors) we love is purely for fun and nothing else! My first try at crossing over so let's have fun with it!**

 **PART 1**

"Tess, what are we even doing here if this is a suicide?" Detective Catherine Chandler asked her partner while looking somberly at the lifeless body laying in the bed.

"Your guess is as good as mine," Tess replied, leaning over the body. The victim was Todd Taylor, a middle-aged male, no signs of struggle, no visible signs of trauma. He looked as if he died in his sleep.

"Hmm... well, his wife did state that he was terminally ill. So maybe it was natural causes," Catherine surmised. That seemed plausible but if that were the case then their boss, Joe, wouldn't have sent her and Tess to investigate.

Tess straightened up and shrugged, "I don't know. Could be. But the wife also insists he must have consumed something. Joe knew the victim and the victim's wife. Neither he nor the wife believe he would commit suicide."

"Do they think someone gave him something? To put in his drink?" Catherine asked, eyeing the empty champagne glass on the night stand. Tess nodded.

"Yep, looks like it."

"Well, how about I go follow up with the victim's doctor," Catherine continued, "I'll find out exactly how long he was expected to live since the wife is sure it can't be natural causes either."

"Sounds good," Tess agreed, "I'll stick around here and get more info from Mrs. Taylor. Meet me back at the precinct."

Cat nodded then left Tess in the bedroom.

* * *

As soon as Cat stepped outside of the victim's house, she notified the officers waiting out front that Evan, the medical examiner, would be arriving shortly . She then turned around and was about to walk towards her car parked on the driveway when suddenly her heart skipped a beat and she immediately froze in her tracks. Walking towards her was a tall, ruggedly handsome man that looked almost exactly like Vincent.

 _Vincent._

The man in hiding that she and his best friend, JT, have been protecting from the grips of Muirfield. The man that she had secretly fallen in love with but his attention suddenly went to his ex-fiance, Alex, as soon as she popped back into the picture. Catherine hadn't seen Vincent since getting him out of being arrested when he was out with Alex one night a few days ago. That same night, Catherine had gone to Vincent and told him that she wanted to be with him but he told her his choice wasn't so clear. After that night, she decided she wasn't going to be his second choice so she stayed away.

Catherine blinked twice thinking perhaps she was imagining it but as the stranger approached closer to her, she realized that he indeed had a very uncanny resemblance to Vincent. Only this guy's hair was much shorter, he looked a tad bit older (but that could be due to the darker more grown out goatee), and he didn't have a scar on his face.

He was looking straight ahead, walking with a purpose and seemed to have something on his mind so much so that he didn't notice Catherine until she stepped in front of him, blocking his way towards the front entrance of the house.

"Excuse me, sir, this is a potential crime scene. You shouldn't be here," Catherine said, her arm stretched out and palm facing him.

"Uhh.. sorry?" he answered, snapping out of his gaze and looking down at her.

"I said 'you shouldn't be here, this is a potential crime scene'," she repeated herself, looking up at him. _Gawd_ , _he looks so much like Vincent... even slightly sounds like him_. "Who are you?" Catherine thought to herself but then realized she said it out loud.

"Wesley," he held his hand out, " Detective Ben Wesley. Homicide. And you?"

"Chandler," Cat shook his hand briefly, "Detective Catherine Chandler. Special crimes."

Ben showed her his badge to confirm his identity.

"Now that we've introduced ourselves," Catherine wanted to get straight to the point, "Can I ask what you're doing here, Detective?"

Ben couldn't help but smile at Catherine's no-nonsense attitude and thought even though he was a very confident and strong 6'1" tall guy, he found this gorgeous petite woman quite intimidating.

"I happened to be in the area and saw the squad cars out here. Thought maybe I could lend a hand," Ben answered. " That is, if you need it."

Catherine shook her head. "Nope, we're good here. Thanks for the offer though."

"Well then, I'll be on my way."

"Thanks for stopping by," Catherine smiled, still trying to size him up.

Ben turned to walk away, then paused and turned back towards Catherine.

"Can I ask a question?" he asked.

"Sure," she responded.

"What happened here?"

"Suicide."

"Suicide?" Ben asked, his brows raised. "Then why the need for the special crimes unit?"

Catherine took a moment before answering, "High profile victim. There are some issues surrounding his death that question the likelihood it was an actual suicide. So, that's why we're here."

Ben nodded his head slowly, his brows furrowed. "Well, that's interesting."

"It is indeed," Cat responded, then continued. "Detective Wesley - "

"Call me Ben," he smiled.

"Ben," she smiled back, "It was nice meeting you but I really have to go."

"I understand. Thanks for your time," he held out his hand to her and they shook once more.

Catherine watched as he walked away, her intuition telling her there was something more to this guy.

"Mary, it's Ben. Give me a call as soon as you get this message."

Ben hung up then placed his phone in his back pocket as he walked back to his truck. He needed to speak with her soon. He needed to find out if she knew the victim in the case that Detective Catherine Chandler was investigating. Ben paused a moment before turning the ignition. He watched as the young, gorgeous detective got into her car. He thought he saw her look at him as if she knew him. But he would have definitely remembered her if they had met before today. He knew there was no way he could forget a beautiful face like hers.

Ben sighed then lit a cigarette. One thing was certain, if Mary had any involvement in Catherine's case, he wasn't sure how he would be able to cover her. In that short meeting with Catherine, he could tell that Detective Chandler wasn't the type to let her cases go unsolved.

* * *

A couple of hours later, Cat met Tess back at the precinct. They shared the information they gathered so far with their boss, Joe. Apparently the victim was in the later stages of a terminal illness but according to his doctor, as long as he kept up treatments he was expected to live atleast another year or two. They were also told by Mrs. Taylor that she and her husband were even planning a trip to Asia to try out some non-traditional treatments.

"I don't know, Joe. Based on what we've seen and heard so far, it really does appear to be a suicide," Tess warily said to their boss knowing that Mr. Taylor was a friend of his. Cat nodded slowly in agreement with her partner.

Joe sighed and shook his head, his jaw clenched, then looked at his two detectives.

"Look, I know what it _appears_ to look like," he spoke with conviction, "but my gut and experience tells me there's something else going on here. Now, I'll wait on what Evan's report says along with the toxicology report, sure. But in the meantime, I need you two to treat this as any case. Look deep and hard into it, give me all you got on this, just like you both always do. He was a victim like anyone else in an investigation but he was my friend, too."

Tess and Cat both nodded, fully understanding where Joe was coming from, then left his office. They had a couple of more people to interview before calling it a day. Meanwhile, the body of Mr. Todd Taylor was now in the morgue with the medical examiner, Evan, who would be doing the autopsy.

* * *

"Ben, I got your message. What is it?"

Mary met Ben at his trailer. He was sitting in a chair out front, cigarette in one hand, glass of whiskey in the other. She took a seat in the chair next to him. Ben took a drag of his cigarette then put it out.

"Mary, I need to ask you a few questions and I just need you to be completely honest with me."

"Ofcourse."

Ben turned his chair a bit to face Mary, then leaned his forearms over his knees. He looked straight at her and asked, "Have you ever had any interactions with a Mr. Todd Taylor? He was a patient that was suffering from a terminal illness. He was found dead at his residence by his wife earlier today... supposedly committed suicide."

Mary sighed then looked into Ben's eyes.

"Yes," she nodded. "I have."

Ben let out a breath and sat back, closing his eyes for a moment. _Shit._

"In what capacity?" Ben had to ask. The more he knew, the better he could figure out a way to protect her if he had to.

"Do I really have to say it? Because I think you know." Mary looked down.

Ben shook his head. _Fuck._ He finished his drink and set the glass down onto the rickety table between them. He knew all about Mary's 'side business' since he had actually met her while investigating her for a young man's supposed doctor-assisted-suicide. He developed strong feelings for her and as time went on, he managed to get her out of the police investigation radar. He still wasn't sure where he actually stood on the topic but he knew that he cared deeply for her and that she was more than just a sexual partner to him, and that he would do whatever he could to keep her from getting caught.

"Then we might have a problem. But, if you tell me everything - and I mean _everything,_ then maybe we won't have a problem."

Mary sighed again, then lit her own cigarette. She took a drag before responding.

"Ben, there's nothing much to tell. He came to me and Des. We provided him with what he needed in order for him to transition forward, and to do it on his own terms. That's it, nothing else, end of story."

"You make it sound so simple." Ben shook his head and rubbed his hands over his face.

"Believe me, it wasn't simple. It never is. But I can tell you there is no paper trail. No one will find anything on me. Nor Des. They won't even look in our direction!" she tried to assure him.

Mary put her cigarette out and stood up, she held her hands out to Ben. He got up from his chair and took her hands in his. He stared deep into her blue eyes. From the moment he started having feelings for her, he put his career in jeopardy. He became an accomplice. There was no turning back for him, not while he still cared about her.

"Trust me, you have nothing to worry about," she stared back into his eyes.

"I trust you, but I think you should know that the detective on the case seems pretty damn thorough. She won't leave any stone unturned."

Mary frowned at that, "Well, I would hope every detective is thorough and leaves no stones unturned. But really, no matter how good a detective she is, she won't find anything on me."

Ben nodded, "Okay then. I'll let you know if I find out anything else, but I doubt I will. It's not my jurisdiction." He placed his hand at the side of her face, "Just be careful. Be very, very careful."


	2. Chapter 2

_**Part 2**_

After Cat's shift ended, she and Tess had a couple of drinks together before calling it a night and going their separate ways. As soon as Catherine got home, there was a note slipped under her door. The note had one word on it:

Roof

 _Vincent,_ she thought. Only he would leave a note like this. She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, tossing the note into the wastebasket before leaving her apartment to go up to the roof.

"I met your doppleganger today," Catherine announced as she closed the door to the roof behind her. Vincent was sitting on the roof parapet, waiting for her.

"What?" Vincent asked with a slight chuckle. He hopped off the parapet and leaned against it. Clad in a long sleeved slightly fitted henley shirt , loose fitting jeans, and casual boots, he was tall and handsome as always.

"You do know what a doppleganger is, right?" Catherine asked as she stood next to him.

"Ofcourse I do, but I seriously doubt there's someone out there that looks exactly like me," Vincent chuckled again, shaking his head.

"You'd be surprised! I'm telling you, he could pass as your twin," Catherine looked up at him, trying to be humorous even though she was feeling nervous.

"Maybe you just missed me so much that you were imagining things," Vincent teased her, a grin appearing on his very handsome face.

"I swear, I wasn't imagining things." Catherine smiled but then added, " And no, I don't."

Vincent wasn't surprised by her response, he knew he hurt her by being with Alex. He frowned a bit and nodded then said, "Well, I just wanted to check in on you. I haven't heard from you in a few days and wanted to make sure you're okay."

"Well, I'm fine." Catherine responded slightly defensive.

"You don't sound fine." Vincent answered back, his brows furrowed.

Catherine took in a breath then smiled softly and looked deep into his warm brown eyes. She knew in her heart that he still cared for her, atleast as a friend as far as she knew. She repeated herself but this time more kindly, "I'm fine. I really am, Vincent."

"Okay," Vincent's expression softened. "Catherine, I'm sorry -"

"Vincent, it's okay," she interrupted him. She didn't want to go there with him. She didn't want to discuss what happened the last time they saw each other. "I just want to move forward and focus on my life right now."

Vincent clenched his jaw and nodded, fully understanding where she was coming from.

"Well then, I won't take up any more of your time." Vincent looked into her her eyes. He missed looking into her beautiful green eyes. "If you ever need me, you know where to find me."

Catherine nodded and said, "Likewise. Stay low, Vincent... and take care of yourself." She meant that. She didn't want to worry about him.

Vincent nodded and forced a smile, "I will."

With that, Catherine bid him goodnight. Vincent watched her for a moment as she walked away from him. _I really do miss you, Catherine,_ he thought to himself. He knew he would never stop loving her either but he couldn't tell her that. He felt obligated to give Alex a chance for the hell he put her through all these years that she thought he was dead. But Catherine, he knew she would be the one his heart ached and yearned for. _Always._

When Catherine got to the roof door to open it, she glanced back behind her to where she and Vincent were standing just seconds ago.

But Vincent was already gone.

* * *

Two days later, Tess and Cat weren't anywhere near finding any other information that would suggest anything other than suicide. They were just about to head home for the night when Evan called them down to his office at the morgue.

"Okay," Tess smiled to Evan, "What'dya got?"

"I have something interesting for you ladies," Evan walked around his desk and handed Cat a folder. It contained the preliminary toxicology results.

"What are we looking at here?" Cat asked flipping through the papers, Tess looking over her shoulder.

"I see the meds he was prescribed..." Tess frowned.

"Keep looking," Evan smirked, leaning against his desk.

"Traces of Pentobarbital?" Cat asked, looking up at Evan.

"Yep, it's generally used as a sedative," Evan answered.

"That's a euthanasia drug, am I right?" Tess asked, also looking at Evan.

"Well, it can be. Typically for animals in the kill shelters," Evan nodded.

"But when you say 'typically'... you mean what, exactly?" Cat's brows furrowed.

"I mean exactly what you're guessing. That it can be used on people, too, as in those stories you hear about doctor-assisted-suicides. Because you can't buy this drug over the counter."

"So this is why Joe is pushing this as a homicide," Tess shook her head, feeling bad.

"Sounds to me like he wants to know where his friend got the Pento," Cat looked over at Tess then back to Evan. "Evan, how are you going to call it? Mr. Taylor's death?"

He shook his head and sighed, "For now, I'm gonna say it's undetermined pending further toxicology tests. That'll give you ladies atleast another couple of weeks to try and find out where Mr. Taylor got it and if it was a suicide, or if someone made him ingest it. Good luck, ladies."

* * *

Catherine walked into her bedroom when she noticed movement outside of her bedroom window. She cautiously walked to her window then relaxed when she saw Vincent sitting on the staircase steps. She opened her window.

"Vincent," she smiled actually glad to see him. "What are you doing here?"

He was looking down at his hands, his jaw clenched, brows furrowed. She immediately knew something was wrong. Now she was worried.

"Vincent, what is it? What's wrong?"

He looked up at her, his facial expression was a mix of worry, fright, concern.

"I killed someone."

Catherine's shoulders slumped. "Vincent, come inside."

They sat next to each other on her bed and Catherine listened very carefully as Vincent explained to her what transpired just moments ago. He told her he was walking home when he heard a woman screaming. There were two men that had her pinned to the ground in an alley. He immediately ran to her aid but in the melee with the two guys, he turned into the beast. He told her one guy had a gun and tried to shoot him but missed. The bullet hit the other guy instead, killing him instantly. When the guy tried to shoot Vincent again, he broke the guy's neck.

"Catherine, I don't know what to do."

Catherine could see the anguish in his face and she could hear it in the way he spoke.

"Vincent, it was self defense. You're not a murderer. You were doing what you always do, you were saving someone," she gently placed her hand on his back.

"It doesn't make killing someone any easier," he looked up at her, his eyes full of emotion.

"I know, Vincent. I know."

Catherine gently gripped his shoulder. Vincent always found comfort in her touch. Only Catherine had that effect on him.

"Tell me where this happened. I'll go check it out."

"Catherine, you don't have to - "

"I want to. Please, tell me."

Vincent took in a deep breath. "It was near the secret clinic that Alex runs."

"Okay."

Catherine sighed, that was a down trodden area and it was out of her jurisdiction but that wasn't going to stop her from helping Vincent. She told Vincent to go straight home and stay low, and that she would contact him as soon as she could.


	3. Chapter 3

_**PART3  
**_

Catherine parked her car not far from where Vincent told her that it happened. As she got closer to the scene, she shook her head in disbelief.

"Oh you've got to be kidding me," Cat muttered under her breath as soon as she saw the detective at the scene. She was tempted to turn back around and leave but she had to find out if Vincent might have left any clue of himself behind. Besides, it was too late. Detective Ben Wesley glanced her way and immediately started walking towards her. _Jeezus, he really does look like Vincent._ Cat shook the thought out of her head. _Focus, Cat. Focus._

"Hey," Ben greeted her as he got closer, "Detective Chandler - "

"Cat, you can call me 'Cat'," she smiled. "Detective Wesley, right?"

"Right, but please call me Ben. You know, we've gotta stop meeting like this," he grinned. "So, Cat, what brings you to my crime scene?"

"Oh, you know, I was just in the neighborhood. Saw the squad cars and thought I'd check it out," Cat joked remembering what he said when they first met.

Ben couldn't help but chuckle, "Good one, alright, but there's not much to check out. I've already been here a couple of hours and I'm about to go follow up on some leads."

"Oh, okay then," she purposefully sounded disappointed. Ben took the bait.

"I could use a cup of coffee, though. Care to join me?" Ben also wanted to find out how her investigation was going. Then he wondered if maybe this wasn't a chance meeting and somehow she found out something about Mary and him. _No, that's impossible. Nobody knows about Mary and me._

"Sure, I could definitely use a cup of coffee right now," Cat smiled. "There's a bistro right around the corner, too, if you're hungry."

"Sounds good. Wait here a minute while I go tell my partner?" he asked.

"Yeah, ofcourse."

Cat watched Ben walk towards another plain clothes cop, obviously his detective partner, and they shared a few words then fist bumped and Ben walked away from him and back towards Catherine.

"All good?" she asked.

Ben nodded, "Yep, all good."

As they walked away from the scene together, Cat glanced back real quick. It looked like the CSU investigators were finishing up. _Maybe I'll go by there later to look around._

* * *

The bistro was a bit crowded but they were able to find a quieter spot in the corner. After the waitress brought them their orders, there was just a momentary feeling of awkwardness between the two detectives.

"So, what happened over there tonight?" Cat asked, then took a sip of her coffee.

"Mugging and attempted rape," Ben answered before taking a large bite of his sandwich.

"But you're homicide, right? Was someone killed?"

Ben nodded and swallowed his food before answering. "Yep. The two perps involved were killed. One of the guys had a gun, the other had a knife. They were about to gang rape the victim when she said some guy suddenly showed up and threw them off of her."

"Wait, what do you mean 'threw' them off of her?" _Yep, that was Vincent alright_.

"The victim said the guy literally picked both the perps up and threw them off of her. The perp with the gun actually got a couple of shots out but after looking at the scene, it was pretty clear he shot his friend in the frenzy and killed him."

"And the perp with the gun?" Cat asked even though she already knew the answer.

"Dead." Ben drank some water then continued, "His neck was broken, atleast it definitely looks that way. The victim said the guy just ran off afterwards. Didn't say one word to her, didn't even look at her, just took off into the night."

"Did she get a good look at him? The guy who saved her?"

Ben shook his head, "Nope. The only description she could give us was that he was tall and super strong. She didn't see his face at all."

"Hmm... doesn't sound like you have much to go on." _Thank goodness._

"Yep, close to nothing. Not even a security camera in that alley. But we'll see if the CSU found anything then we'll go from there." Ben smiled and looked at Catherine as she smiled back. _Wow,_ he thought, _she's really gorgeous_. But now it was his turn to get information. "So Cat, how's your investigation going?"

She looked down and raised her brows then said, "Well... we've had a couple of interesting findings pop up, but nothing really substantial. Between us, I think the ME is ready to call it for what it was."

"Oh yeah? And what would that be?" Ben asked, curious.

"A suicide."

"Hmm... sounds like we both have cases that end up nowhere," Ben grinned. _Maybe Mary was right, I shouldn't worry about it then_.

"No kidding," Cat chuckled. Then thought for a moment, "I have a question for you..."

"Sure," Ben pushed his empty plate to the side and reached for his mug of coffee and took a sip.

"Ever come across a homicide involving Pento?"

Ben nearly gagged on his coffee. Catherine looked concerned for a moment and was about to lean over the table to pat him on the back.

"Pento?" he asked, coughing. He held his hand out letting her know he was okay.

"Yeah, you know, Pentobarbital." Catherine sat back.

"Yeah, yeah, I know what that is... but I, uhh..." he shook his head and lied, " No. I've never come across it in any investigation. Why do you ask?"

Catherine shrugged and frowned, "There were traces of the drug in our victim, Mr. Taylor. As you know, that's not a drug one can buy over the counter. He had to have gotten it from someone, most likely in the medical field. It's not exactly a street drug."

Ben nodded hiding his concern about the info she just gave him. _Shit._

"I tell you what, I'll see if I can find out anything at my precinct. Will that help?" Ben offered, hoping this would keep her from contacting his precinct directly for any information they might have. But even if she did, he was sure she wouldn't find anything. After all, he hid anything about Mary from his own investigation that involved her many months ago, but he wanted to be on the safe side.

"That would be great!" Cat said happily, any help he could give her would be greatly appreciated.

Ben smiled but felt bad for lying to her. He also felt bad for feeling attracted to her, but he just couldn't help it. If it weren't for the fact that he was seeing Mary, he knew that he would definitely take a chance and ask Cat out on a date.

The two detectives exchanged cards but also exchanged personal cell phone numbers so they'd know how to get in touch with each other.

* * *

Catherine went straight to the warehouse afterwards to let Vincent know what she found out. She also wanted to make sure he was okay since he was pretty distraught earlier. When she got to the warehouse, JT met her at the door and let her in.

"Hey! I haven't seen you in awhile!" JT had been a lot nicer to her lately, she sometimes wondered if it was because he might be feeling a little bad about Alex coming back into the picture.

"Hey JT, it's good to see you," Catherine smiled. She looked around and immediately realized Vincent wasn't there. "Where's Vincent?"

JT hesitated then answered, "He's with Alex."

Cat sighed and shook her head and muttered, "Damnit. I told him to go home and stay low."

"Why? What's wrong? Did something happen?!" JT asked, concern apparent in his voice.

"There was an incident tonight, but don't worry. Everything is going to be alright," she assured him. JT wasn't convinced.

"Incident? What incident?!"

"JT, calm down. It's fine. That's what I came here to tell him but I guess now you can tell him for me."

"Are you sure everything is okay?" JT asked somewhat relieved.

"Yes," she smiled and nodded. "Can you just tell him that things will be fine and to just keep laying low?"

"Sure," JT nodded. "Ofcourse, I'll tell him."

"Thanks, JT. Take care of yourself." She was about to turn and walk away when JT stopped her.

"Cat, wait a sec."

"Yeah?"

"I just want to say 'thanks'... for looking out for us... I mean, Vincent and me, well, especially Vincent... I really appreciate it," JT was speaking from the heart.

Cat let out a breath and smiled, "No need to thank me, JT. That's what friends do."

"And Cat... I'm really sorry about the way things turned out... I mean, with Alex and everything... they just, they go way back, you know?" JT tried to explain and Catherine tried to not roll her eyes at hearing about Vincent and Alex but she knew JT was just trying to be helpful.

"JT, you really don't have to explain anything to me. I get it, I do. And I'm over it. I really just want to move on with my life," she forced a smile.

"Sorry you keep getting pulled back into ours," JT frowned. "But Cat, I hope you know that he really does care about you."

Cat sighed and shook her head slightly, "I have to go, JT. Have a goodnight."

"Thanks, Cat. You, too." he nodded and watched her walk out the door.

* * *

Catherine was lying in bed on her side, staring at the window. A million thoughts running through her mind...

 _It's so hard to get over him. I wanted to make sure he was okay before I went home and yet, once again, he was with Alex instead. Clearly, she is better at comforting him than I could ever be. What was I thinking? That he'd actually listen to me and stay at home, waiting for me to bring him news? Nah, I was being foolish... and he's probably still with her, this very moment.. in each other's arms... no doubt they've already been intimate... ugh._

She shook her head at that thought and tried to think of something else, but only a memory of her and Vincent crossed her mind... the memory of the dance they shared together at her father's wedding...

 _It felt so good to be that close to him, out in the open, not caring if anyone saw us together. My heart was racing! I still remember the feel of his large hands at the small of my back, his head close to mine, my hands holding onto his strong arms... It was so wonderful..._

Cat smiled and before she realized it, she was fast asleep.


	4. Chapter 4

**_PART 4_**

The next day, Tess and Cat found themselves back at the hospital where Mr. Taylor had his last treatment several days before his death. They wanted to find out if the nurses had any other information to give them that they hadn't already given before. Tess went to grab a cup of coffee and told Cat she would meet back up with her at the nurse's station. While waiting for Tess, Cat noticed a nurse that wasn't working the day the detectives initially came in for information.

"Excuse me, nurse?" Cat asked politely. The nurse looked up from the computer she was standing in front of.

"Yes? Can I help you with something?"

"Hi, I'm Detective Catherine Chandler," Cat showed her badge. "I was just wondering if you knew of a patient named Todd Taylor? He was in here for treatment a little over a week ago?"

"Todd Taylor?" the nurse frowned. "I've only started working in this unit for the past month. Unfortunately, I don't remember all of the patients that come in for treatment."

"Here, take a look at this," Cat answered showing the nurse a picture of Todd Taylor that Mrs. Taylor provided for them.

"Ah yes! I do remember that patient!" the nurse had a huge smile on her face. "He was always very engaging, and no matter how difficult the treatments were, he was always smiling. He and his wife are a lovely couple. They would bring sweet treats to leave at the nurse's station whenever they came here. How is he?"

"Unfortunately, Mr. Taylor passed away recently." Catherine didn't give any other info, she wanted to see what the nurse would say.

"Oh my god!" the nurse put her hand to her mouth in disbelief. "That's so sad! But the treatments... he was expected to have much more time left. Really? Oh my gosh."

"So the last time you saw him was when he came in for treatment?" Cat asked.

"No, actually. I saw him a couple of days after that."

"Really? Where?"

"Here, at the hospital but not at this unit. I was working the ER and he had come in one night in bad shape. He had a bad reaction from his last treatment combined with some new medications he was on. I felt so bad to see him like that."

"Do you remember which doctor was working the ER that night?" Cat asked, finally glad to be getting some new information.

The nurse thought for a moment, then nodded with a smile. "Yep, I remember! It was Dr. Harris. She treated Mr. Taylor that night."

"Thanks, you've been really helpful!" Cat smiled.

"No problem!" the nurse smiled back.

Before leaving the nurse, Cat asked one more question. "What is Dr. Harris' first name?"

"Mary," the kind nurse answered. "She's actually on duty right now if you need to speak with her. The nurses down there can page her for you."

"Thanks again," Cat smiled and walked away.

As Cat was leaving the nurse's station, Tess had just gotten off the elevator.

"Are we done here?" Tess asked slightly confused as Cat walked up to her.

"Almost, I want to go check the ER real quick," Cat said pushing the down button.

"Lead the way," Tess replied taking a sip of her coffee.

Inside the elevator, Cat filled Tess in on some of what the nurse had told her. When they got off the elevator, she was about to tell Tess the ER doctor's name when she looked up and saw Ben over near the ER entrance talking to a female doctor. Something in her gut told her that he was talking to Dr. Mary Harris. _This is too coincidental,_ she thought.

"Why are we stopping?" Tess asked Cat.

Cat averted her eyes from Ben so that Tess wouldn't see who she was looking at.

"I think I want to go check out that pharmacy lead first," Cat lied.

"But we're already here at the ER. What was that doctor's name? I'll go ask the nurse," Tess was about to walk to the ER nurse's station.

"Wait," Cat stopped her partner. "I want to wait until the doctor's shift finishes. Too many things going on in the ER and I don't want the doctor to be distracted by our questioning."

"Okay, fine." Tess agreed. "Then let's get out of here before someone coughs into my coffee."

Catherine laughed at her friend's snarkiness as they walked back towards the way they came from to use the exit closer to where they parked.

* * *

"Ben, I told you that I didn't leave anything behind that could come back to me," Mary sighed, her arms crossed over in front of her.

"Are you absolutely positive? Nothing at all? Not even a brochure like the one the nurse gave me that had your phone number written on it?" Ben asked remembering when they first met during his investigation back then.

"Yes, I'm sure! And that was a burner phone by the way, you know that." Mary tried not to speak too loudly as they stood near the doors to the ER entrance. "Why? What is going on?"

"I can't tell you here," Ben looked around at the people coming in and out, then looked down at her. "Can we meet later?"

Mary shook her head, "I can't later. I've got school stuff to do with my girls and I already have plans with them tonight. How about tomorrow instead?"

"Okay," Ben nodded. "I'll see you tomorrow night."

He watched Mary as she walked away and disappeared into the rooms behind the triage nurse station, then he left the hospital. He was getting a little irritated at Mary's over confidence because he knew that is one of the reasons why most criminals end up making mistakes. _Criminals? Did I just equate her with criminals?_ Ben shook his head wondering to himself just what in the hell was he doing.

He thought about his chance encounter with Cat at his crime scene yesterday. _Small world._ He chuckled then wondered what she was really doing in that area. The fact that she asked him about the Pento made him nervous. _What if she's playing me? What if she found something out and is investigating me? Fuck._

They had exchanged phone numbers last night. He needed to know where she was in the investigation so he decided he was going to ask her if she wanted to join him for a couple of drinks later tonight. He'll tell her that he couldn't find anything Pento-related in his precinct in the hopes that it will deter her away from Mary... and his direction as well.

He sent his text to Catherine.


	5. Chapter 5

_**PART 5**_

Several hours later, Cat arrived at the bar that Ben suggested. She was wearing a simple black fitted strapless dress that fell just below her knees and black pumps. Her hair was down and styled in loose soft waves. She just finished having dinner with her Dad and his new wife but didn't have time to drive across town then back again just to change outfits. Her eye makeup was still flawless but she didn't bother touching up her lipstick since she didn't even consider this a date.

Ben was sitting at the bar and spotted her the moment she walked in. His jaw nearly dropped to the floor as soon as he saw her. _Wow, she's fucking gorgeous,_ was the first thought that came to his mind. She walked up with a smile lighting up her beautiful face and took a seat next to him.

"Wow, Detective Chandler," he grinned. "You look stunning." _Seriously_.

"Thanks," she blushed, "but I didn't have time to go home and change."

"Ahh, so you didn't put that dress on for me? _Tsk..._ " he teased, shaking his head, a grin on his face.

"Don't flatter yourself," she joked back, smiling. "As much as I prefer jeans and a comfortable shirt, the venue my Dad and his new wife chose to have dinner at required something a bit more than casual wear!"

"Well, now I don't feel so bad." he laughed as he looked down at his jeans and t-shirt outfit.

"Yah, don't feel bad. You look fine," she smiled at him. He looked over at her and their eyes met.

Something about her really pulled him towards her whenever she was near him. He couldn't explain it, and it was more than just her beauty because he's been around many other attractive women and never felt this same way with them. It might even be the way he caught her looking at him sometimes, as if she knew him. It was in those moments that he noticed the expression in her eyes seemed somewhat... _sad_? He felt compelled to find out why. Then there was the part of him that felt guilty for even having this reaction towards Catherine. That guilty part of him that made him think of Mary.

 _He really does look almost exactly like Vincent,_ Catherine thought to herself _._ Ben's eyes were a warm brown like Vincent's, but Ben's face seemed a few years older. Maybe it was the thicker more grown out mustache and goatee, or the stress from being a homicide detective, or a combination of both, but because of the fact that he looked like Vincent, she found it was easy to connect with Ben. She also found it disheartening as well since Vincent had broken her heart. But right now, she had some questions to ask Ben.

"So, do you have anything new to share?" Cat asked, breaking their gaze.

"Uhh, yes and no," Ben shook his head, bringing himself out of his thoughts of her. "Yes, I managed to comb our recent homicide cases but... No, I didn't find anything dealing with Pento-related homicides. Sorry, Cat."

"Hmm... well that's disappointing," she frowned, her brows furrowed in thought. "Thanks for looking though."

"No problem at all." Ben was a little leery that she didn't push further. _Shit, she knows something._

Catherine felt that he was holding back, especially after seeing him at the ER today. It was just too much of a coincidence. She decided to give him one more chance to be honest with her and if she felt he was being deceptive, then he would leave her no choice but to have her investigate him as well.

"Isn't it frustrating when you're working a case and..." Cat paused a moment, ".. and all your leads end up nowhere?"

"Yep," Ben nodded. "I know that feeling all too well."

"We do have one promising lead though," Cat took a sip of her wine.

"Oh yeah?" he looked over at Cat but she was looking down at her drink.

"At the hospital, actually... Apparently, Mr. Taylor saw a doctor there several days before he passed," Cat looked at Ben, her eyes locked onto his. "He saw a doctor in the ER."

Ben held her gaze a moment then looked away. _Damnit_. _She's good._ _She's real good._

Cat continued, "In fact, I was there earlier today to ask this particular doctor some questions, but she was preoccupied."

Ben let out a chuckle, "With patients, no doubt."

"Nope," Cat shook her head, placing her glass of wine down. "With you."

He immediately looked over at her, his eyes wide. Catherine looked right into his eyes.

"Yep. I saw you there, Ben... talking to her... Dr. Mary Harris."

He looked away again, his jaw clenched. Cat sighed then spoke quietly, leaning towards him.

"Ben, I don't know what's going on... but I hope you know that you can trust me. I just want to get to the bottom of things. It's what I do. It's my job. You're a detective as well, so you should understand. Don't you?"

Ben finished his drink of Scotch. He could feel Cat's eyes looking at him, waiting for his reply. He turned to look at her. Her expression was gentle, concerned even. _God, what is it about this woman that makes me want to just spill everything to her? Fuck._

"Cat, can we go somewhere quiet? A little less public?" he asked.

"Ofcourse. Where do you have in mind?"

"Well, if you don't mind, my place isn't far from here. Only about 15 minutes away."

She looked a little hesitant but Ben added light-heartedly, "I promise to keep my hands to myself. You have nothing to worry about."

Cat smiled, "Alright then. Let's go."

Crouched on the rooftop of a building across the street, the shadowy figure watched the pair leave the restaurant. The pair walked to Catherine's car, and the guy leaned over Cat's open window as she sat in the driver's seat. He gave her an address, then the guy watched as Cat drove off before walking to his pickup truck. The shadowy figure stood up, his eyes flashed gold.

 _Should I follow her?_ Vincent thought to himself as he stood on the rooftop looking down.


	6. Chapter 6

_**PART 6**_

Ben's trailer wasn't that far but it was pretty secluded. Catherine had made a pit stop to get some gas before going to his place and by the time she arrived at his place, his truck was already there. When she got out of her car and shut her car door, she thought she heard something rustling in the woods behind her. She turned around quickly, her eyes trying to adjust to the darkness and she held her breath as she tried to listen closely.

"Vincent? Are you there?" she whispered loudly into the dark under her breath. But all she heard were the usual night sounds of insects and an owl in the distance. She shook her head then sighed. _I'm losing my mind._

She walked up to Ben's trailer and knocked lightly on his door. It didn't take long for him to open it and she stepped inside. Surprisingly, the inside of his single wide trailer was really nice, clean, and well-kept. There was some clutter here and there but totally liveable. A huge difference from what appeared to be run down on the outside, althought it was dark outside.

"Wow, this is really surprising." She nodded as she scanned the living area.

"Yeah, it'll do for now," Ben said, holding a bottle of scotch in one hand and two glasses in the other. They sat next to each other on the couch and he poured her a drink. "Sorry, I don't have wine."

Cat smiled. "It's fine, thank you."

They clinked and Cat took a sip of her drink, but he gulped his down. She felt he was nervous, probably about what he needed to tell her. She felt her own kind of nervousness though, and it was a combination of a few things, among them being the fact that she was alone with him. Not wanting to beat around the bush, she went straight to the topic.

"What can you tell me, Ben?" she took another sip of her drink. She watched Ben pour himself another round, but this time he sipped it.

"Straight to the point, huh?" he grinned, looking down.

"Yep! I find it makes things less awkward, you know, the whole 'don't prolong your agony' type thing," she said smiling. He looked at her and smiled, then looked back down.

"Alright then... and this is all off the record, right?" he glanced at Cat.

"Ofcourse," she nodded.

"Okay," he nodded slowly then took a gulp of his drink before continuing. "I know Mary - Dr. Harris. She's a good friend of mine and the reason I know her is because... about a year ago, I was investigating the death of this teenage kid. Her name came up at one point during the investigation, so I had to look and see if she had any connection to this kid."

"And... did she?" Cat asked, listening intently.

"No. She didn't."

"Why didn't you tell me earlier? It would have been just routine questions, you know the drill."

"I know," Ben nodded then his lies began just so he could protect Mary. "I just... Cat, you know how it is with investigations. When we find out someone was investigated before, it's a whole lot easier to be biased into thinking they _did_ have something to do with the crime. When you saw me talking to her, I went there to ask her if she remembered Mr. Taylor, and she did, but only as far as treating him in the ER. She didn't see him again after that night."

"Okay and I do understand where you're coming from," Cat nodded. "But I can tell you that I wouldn't have been biased. I won't bother questioning Mary then because, as one detective to another, I trust you. But is there anything else you know? Or Mary knows that might be helpful to Mr. Taylor's case? "

Ben faced Cat and looked straight into her eyes. He felt bad for having to lie to her again but he felt he had to cover Mary so he answered, "No, there's nothing else."

"Well, alright then," Cat nodded, a look of disappointment on her face. She gulped the rest of her drink down.

"Do you want a refill?" he joked lightly, holding up the bottle to pour.

"Yes, please." Cat held her glass to him. She needed another drink to drown the fact that her and Tess were once again nowhere closer to finding out who supplied the Pento to Mr. Taylor.

"Don't drink too fast," Ben advised as he poured some Scotch into her glass.

"Thanks," she smiled and took a rather large sip. Nothing seemed to be going right for her lately. Her promising relationship with Vincent fizzled out the moment Alex reappeared, her case on Mr. Taylor was going nowhere, and the one good lead she thought she had in Dr. Mary Harris turned out to be a dead end. Thinking about all that, especially about Vincent, she muttered out loud, "This sucks."

"You don't have to stick around," Ben responded.

"Oh no!" Cat looked over at him, she put her hand gently on his wrist. "No, I didn't mean _this_!"

Ben let out a chuckle, then glanced at her hand, the feel of her touch still on his wrist. The thoughts he had about Cat earlier came rushing back into his head and with them came the unexplainable pull of attraction he had for her. He looked at her and their gaze met once again. In that very moment, they both shared a strange feeling of helplessness. Ben was torn between his feelings for Mary and wanting to protect her, and the sudden insatiable hunger he had for Catherine. He also felt incredibly guilty for lying to Cat and as he looked into her beautiful big green eyes, he felt a sense of resignation on her part, as if she lost some inner battle.

"I'd better go now," Catherine whispered, removing her hand from his wrist. "Thanks for the information and for trusting me. I'll see you around, Ben." She gulped the rest of her drink down then stood up from the couch and turned to leave. She had only taken a couple of steps when she felt his hands at her waist. She froze in place, her eyes closed, the alcohol taking its course through her system.

Ben was right behind her, she took a step back into him, their bodies closer together. He leaned his head next to hers and whispered in her ear.

"You don't have to go."


	7. Chapter 7

_**PART 7**_

His large hands gently squeeze her waist then relax.

"Stay with me tonight," he whispered quietly, his voice husky. "Just for tonight."

The feel of his breath against her skin sent shivers throughout her body. Her eyes still closed, she thought about Vincent. How she longed to feel _his_ touch, _his_ hands upon her body, _his_ breath against her skin. _Vincent is with Alex now. He chose to be with her. What am I doing waiting for him? Why can't I get over him? I need to get over him!_ She slowly turned around, Ben's hands still at her waist, she placed her hands lightly against his chest and looked up into his warm brown eyes that were now staring longingly into hers.

"You look just like him..." she whispered sadly, a lone tear fell from the corner of her eye.

After hearing her say that, Ben realized he must resemble someone she once loved, or maybe even still loves. That would explain why he often felt that she looked at him as if she'd met him before. He placed one hand at the side of her face and with a gentle sweep of his thumb he wiped the tear away.

"Cat... I don't know who he is..." Ben spoke softly, a soothing expression on his face, "... but if you need to forget about him, I can help you... atleast for tonight."

A weak smile shown on her beautiful face. Ben slowly leaned his face closer to hers, their lips a breath away. Her heart was racing. She would accept his invitation.

"I'd like that," Catherine whispered against his lips, then closed her eyes.

Ben pressed a gentle kiss onto her soft pillowy lips. Her lips felt exactly as he imagined they would feel and when she returned his kiss, he wasn't sure how much longer he could take things slow. He pulled her closer to him and kissed her again, a little harder this time, and when she opened her sweet mouth to him, he cradled the back of her head and pushed his tongue in, anxious to taste hers.

Cat's tongue met with Ben's, she was timid and cautious at first. _Should I really be doing this?_ Catherine thought for a second, but as Ben's delicious tongue explored her mouth and swirled against her tongue, she had no doubts. _Yes, I definitely want this. I need this. I need him tonight._ Her anger at Vincent, along with the alcohol in her body, gave her the confidence to be more aggressive. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, her hands holding the back of his neck and head. She pushed her tongue against his, deepening their kisses and Ben groaned his approval of her sudden voraciousness, his hands moving up and down the sides of her body.

Their physical need for each other was apparent in the hunger of their kissing, the way their open mouths pressed hard against each other, their tongues pushing and twirling together, teeth nipping, mouths pulling and sucking each other's bottom lip. Ben's hands glided over the curves of her firm round bottom then up her back following along the zipper of her dress. He found the small tab and pulled her zipper all the way down. The top of her dress fell to her waist, he tugged the rest of it down passed her ass and hips, her dress falling to a puddle of black fabric at her feet.

Cat moved her hands to the bottom hem of his t-shirt, pushing it over his torso, they broke away from their kissing so that Ben could take his shirt off and he tossed it to the floor. Cat gazed at Ben's bare chest and arms, although he indeed had a muscular build and nice abs, he wasn't as big, well-toned and sculpted as Vincent. She looked up at Ben and he was looking down at her nearly naked body, her breasts covered by her strapless black bra, her lower body covered by a skimpy barely there thin black lace panty. Cat placed her hands at the top of his shoulders and Ben looked into her eyes, his lids heavy.

"You broke your promise," she whispered.

"Promise?" he asked, brows furrowed.

"That you would you keep your hands to yourself."

Ben grinned, "I'm sorry."

Cat bit her bottom lip, then whispered, "I'm not."

They didn't need to say anything else, their hearts were racing, and their gaze mirrored each other's incredible lust, want, need, and undeniable desire they were feeling for one another. They kissed again, re-igniting their urgency for intimacy. Ben placed his hands on her hips, his fingers pressing into her soft skin as he moved his hands upward to the small of her back, then up to her bra unhooking the clasps and pulling it off of her. Immediately his hands moved to her front, squeezing her perky round breasts in his large hands. Catherine grasped his shoulders and he lowered his head, kissing her neck, her chest, the tops of her breasts. She moaned as the tip of his tongue circled one of her smooth puffy nipples causing it to peak, then taking that breast into his hot mouth, his teeth grazing her skin gently. He moved his mouth to her other breast giving it the exact same attention and Cat stuck her chest out to him, heat rising within her as she bit her bottom lip and watched his tongue trace and flick at her now tight nipple. Her breathing accelerates and her hands grip the back of his head, pulling his face impossibly closer as his mouth opens wide sucking as much of her breast flesh as he can before releasing it from his hungry mouth. He straightens up to look into her heavy-lidded eyes.

"I fucking want you," he groaned before covering her mouth with his. She pushes her tongue into his mouth signaling her consent.

Immediately, he grabs her luscious ass, lifting her up and onto him. Cat wraps her lithe legs tightly around his waist and their mouths open to each other again, their tongues swirling and dancing hungrily as he carries her to his bed.

Well hidden in the woods right outside of Ben's trailer, anger raged inside the beast, his golden eyes piercing the thick darkness of the night. He knew that if he stayed there any longer he would lose complete control of himself. He growled loudly, angrily slashing a tree deeply with his claws before blurring away back to the city.


	8. Chapter 8

_**PART 8**_

Ben glanced over at Cat as she slept soundly next to him. Mixed feelings of wonder and guilt washed over him. He was amazed at the intimacy they had just shared together. It wasn't some quick one-night-stand session, they took their time with each other. They made it slow, passionate, and intense, and it was amazing. He certainly felt guilty for the incredible closeness that he had just shared with Catherine tonight since he was technically in some kind of relationship with Mary.

 _Mary._

He would do everything he needed to do just to protect her. He cared deeply for her and even though their sex together was great, he knew he wasn't in love with her. Because if he was in love with her, he wouldn't have Cat next to him in his bed right now.

Ben looked at Cat again, she was sleeping on her side, facing him. Even asleep, she was incredibly beautiful, incredibly sexy. He knew deep down that this night wouldn't happen again. He knew that Cat was just needing an outlet tonight and he was perfectly fine being the one to provide it to her. He wondered if she would have any regrets in the morning, especially since they both had a lot to drink tonight, but he was hoping that she wouldn't.

Cat definitely embodied everything he would want in a partner, from her personality, to her attitude, to her beauty. She was the perfect woman for him wrapped up in a beautiful petite package. But he knew that he and Cat could never be together like that, he could tell just in the short time that he's known her that her heart belonged to someone else. He wondered who this guy was that had such an effect and impact on Catherine. He wondered why the hell the guy wasn't with her because it was clear to Ben that she wants to be with that guy. _Whoever this guy is, he must be out of his damn mind._

Ben shook his head and yawned, he closed his eyes and almost instantly fell asleep.

* * *

"Are we cool, dude?" JT asked standing next to the couch that Vincent was sprawled across on. Vincent was finally waking from his sedation.

"Wha- what the hell happened, man?" Vincent tried to get up but his head was groggy, so he laid back down, his hands holding the top of his head.

"You tell me! You busted in here ready to tear the damn place apart! I had to tranq you - TWICE!" JT raised his hands up. "So what the hell happened out there that got you so worked up?!"

"Catherine..." Vincent mumbled her name, his eyes closed.

"Oh god," JT sighed and plopped down into the armchair next to the couch. "Dude, why can't you just leave her alone?"

"Because, JT... I've been watching over her for the past nine years, why should I stop now?" Vincent kept his eyes closed.

"Because maybe she's trying to move on with her life after you chose to be with Alex!" now JT closed his eyes, feeling a headache coming on.

"I didn't _choose_ Alex."

"Whatever, man," JT rolled his eyes and sat up. "Look, just give her some space."

Vincent let out a long sigh and finally opened his eyes, his jaw clenched. He looked over at his best friend and knew JT meant well.

"I'm telling you, man. She just needs some space," JT said and with that he stood up and bid Vincent goodnight. JT was always concerned about his best friend. Rightly so, especially after seeing Vincent out of control tonight.

But now, Vincent was feeling calm and level-headed but he couldn't stop thinking about her.

 _Catherine._

He wanted to make sure she wasn't in any danger so he followed her from the restaurant to that guy's trailer. The longer he waited and listened outside, the more it became clear to him that she was far from any danger. He could hear it in her heartbeat and he could smell it in the air. He sensed she was aroused. _Very aroused._ Vincent could feel the rage begin to creep in again. He needed to control himself. He took in a slow deep breath and closed his eyes. He slowly exhaled to remain calm then opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling.

 _What right do I have to be angry at her? She opened her heart to me a few weeks ago and, like an idiot, I told her my choice wasn't so clear. She took my stupid response to mean that I was choosing Alex over her. She couldn't have been more wrong. But that's my fault. So here we are and she's doing what she needs to do to move forward... and away from me._

 _I don't want her to do that... I want her to be with ME._

 _Damnit, I love her._

* * *

Catherine woke up startled by an extremely loud clap of thunder. She lifted her head off the pillow, her eyes wide open. It was still dark outside and now the sound of light rain was falling against the windows.

"You okay?" Ben asked, his voice groggy, the thunder had woken him up as well. Though dark in his room, there was enough moonlight coming through the window for them to see each other.

"Yeah. I'm okay." Cat smiled softly and rested her head back down onto the pillow. They were both laying on their side, facing each other.

"Can I ask you something?" Ben whispered.

"Mmm-hmm, sure."

"That guy - the one I supposedly look like, who is he to you?"

"He is..." Cat paused, then sighed. "He's just..."

"I'm sorry," Ben suddenly felt bad for asking, "It's really none of my business. Forget I asked."

"No, no. It's okay. I don't mind," Cat smiled softly. " He was a guy that I really loved. I still care about him, but... we just can't be together. And that's it, really. I'm over it."

Ben nodded.

"I just realized," Cat looked into Ben's eyes, " I never asked you if you have a girlfriend. Gawd, I really hope you don't because I would hate to think that I just helped a man cheat on his girlfriend."

Ben let out a chuckle. "No, I don't have a girlfriend. So don't worry."

"Oh thank god!" Cat smiled. They both looked at each other a moment then Cat said in a more serious tone, "Ben, I just need you to know... what we did tonight... it was just a one time thing... I'm not looking for a relationship right now."

"That's totally cool with me. I'm really not looking either. And don't worry, I'm not going to stalk you," he smiled back at her.

"Oh, good!" Cat laughed and Ben let out a chuckle. She really did like him, and the intimacy they shared tonight was amazing. In another life, she could see herself being with someone like him.

"Wait, you're not going to run out of here right now, are you?" Ben joked quietly, then stared back into her beautiful eyes.

"Do you want me to?" Catherine asked softly. She bit her bottom lip waiting his response.

 _Jeezus,_ s _he's so fucking sexy._ Ben moistened his lower lip and slowly shook his head.

"No. I don't."

A sly smile appeared on her face, "Good."

They moved closer together and their lips met softly, kissing gently at first, then their mouths opened up to each other and their tongues slowly swirled together. Ben pulled her closer to him and their kisses deepened, their physical hunger for each other once again taking over.


	9. Chapter 9

_**PART 9**_

"Hey Ben, we got a hit on the partial print found on one of the dead perp's from that alley homicide," his partner, Detective Frank Gaines, handed him a folder. "It's a dead end though."

"What're you talking about, man?" Ben put his coffee down and sat at his desk.

"The guy's dead, that's what I'm talking about," Frank answered then sat down at his desk directly across from Ben.

"Then why even bother giving this to me?" he placed the folder down onto his desk.

"Just open it. Check out what the guy looks like," Frank grinned.

"Alright. I'll humor you but only cos I'm tired as hell," Ben picked the folder back up.

"Yeah man, you do look like shit. Didn't you get any damn sleep last night?" Frank joked.

"Not really," Ben smirked as an image of an incredibly beautiful and naked Cat flashed in his mind. Ben quickly shook the image out of his head.

"Well, just open the folder. That ought to wake you up!" Frank reclined in his chair, raising his arms up then folding his hands behind the back of his head, waiting for Ben's reaction.

"Yeah, alright, let's see what we've got here..." Ben lazily opened the folder. The first page was the results from the partial print. "So the guy that could've been our good Samaritan but isn't... was a Specialist... in the US Army... blah, blah, blah... his name was...Keller... Vincent Ryan Keller... yep... says he is 'deceased'... died in Afghanistan... yeah, this is definitely not our guy. "

"Yeah, yeah, keep going. Just flip to the next page," Frank urged him on.

Ben looked at his friend and raised an eyebrow, then shook his head and looked back down at the file. He sighed and flipped the page. Ben's expression immediately changed and his eyes widened.

"What the hell?" Ben muttered, his brows furrowed.

Ben sat up in his chair, looking closer at the picture before him.

Frank chuckled, "See what I mean? It's like looking in the goddamn mirror, ain't it?!"

The black and white photo was dated from several years ago of a man younger than Ben, his hair a couple of inches longer than Ben's close-cut style haircut. But this guy, this Vincent Keller, did indeed look very much like him, there was no denying that.

For some reason, Cat's words echoed in his head, _"You look just like him..."_

* * *

"Great, so now we're back to nowhere," Tess slumped back in her chair, shaking her head.

"Sorry, Tess. That ER doctor turned out to be nothing pertinent," Cat sighed. Both detectives were getting anxious to close this case but their leads were going nowhere.

"Joe's not going to like this. There's got to be _something_ we're over-looking," Tess sat up and flipped through her notes and some files on her desk. She shook her head again, "Mr. Taylor _had_ to have gotten the Pento from _someone._ "

"I agree. The big question is 'Who?' and without any new leads, I'm getting pretty hopeless in us finding out who that person might be."

"So we both know this isn't exactly something folks are grabbing on the street. We need to look at the higher level dealers," Tess suggested.

"Yeah, but we'll need to check with the DEA guys first. I don't want to screw any undercover agents."

"Agreed," Tess nodded.

"In the meantime, let's also look at his activities the entire week before he passed. Go through everything with a fine tooth comb because you're right, there's got to be something we're overlooking," Cat frowned, her brows furrowed.

"I'm going to check with Joe real quick about the DEA guys," Tess got out of her chair and went over to Joe's office. Just then, Cat's cell phone rang.

"Chandler," she answered as she flipped through a file.

"Hey, it's me."

There was no mistaking _his_ raspy voice. Catherine instinctively looked around, "Heyy... uhhh..." not daring to say Vincent's name out loud in the precinct, she immediately got up from her desk and went into an empty interrogation room.

"What're you doing calling me? You know I'm at work," she quickly said.

"I know, I just... I need to see you."

"Can it wait? I'm in the middle of something with Tess and Joe's patience is running thin with our investigation."

"I might be able to help you with that."

"What? How?" Catherine didn't remember telling him details about her current case.

"Just meet me later. Please, Catherine."

 _How she missed hearing him say her name._

"Fine. I'll meet you at your place tonight. Wait for me there."

"Okay. See you tonight."

"Okay." and Catherine hung up, clasping her cell phone in her hands.

As soon as she opened the door, Tess was standing right there.

"Jeezus!" Cat stepped back, startled.

"What?!" Tess laughed, then peaked past Catherine.

"What are you doing?!" Cat looked back into the empty room behind her then at Tess.

Tess shrugged then joked, "Nothing. I thought maybe I might catch you and Evan making out in here."

Cat rolled her eyes, "Oh my god, enough already. We had one drunken peck on the lips in the photo booth at my birthday party and that was it, nothing else, and there will be NOTHING else!"

"Yeah, yeah," Tess laughed. "Alright, let's get serious. Joe's gonna make some calls to his buddies at the DEA, see if they can give us a name or two to check out."

"Sounds good. In the meantime, let's go over what we've got so far," Cat said as she and Tess walked back to their desks.

"Oh, one more thing,"Tess continued, "Joe wants a file on that ER doctor. The one that treated Mr. Taylor."

Cat was taken slightly aback, "Uhh... what for? There was nothing more to look into there."

"Yeah, that's what I told him," Tess sat at her desk. "But he still wants a file on her. You said it yourself, there was nothing there, so checking her background out won't be difficult. Let's just give the boss what he wants."

"Alright," Cat didn't want to raise suspicion so she agreed. "I tell ya what, I'll put together the file for Dr. Harris and look into the ER nurses that were there the night Mr. Taylor was brought in."

"Okay, and I'll follow up with his primary care and the specialist working with him," Tess nodded.

"Let me know if you need any help," Cat said, grabbing her light jacket from behind her chair.

"Likewise, partner," Tess winked as she gathered her jacket and notebook.

* * *

Ben was waiting for Cat at the coffee shop near the hospital where Mary was working. He received a text from Cat earlier that she needed to speak with him about the case she was working on and could use his help. Naturally he agreed, he knew she wouldn't reach out to him about her case unless she absolutely had to, and that did make him a little nervous. He was hoping that she nor her partner hadn't stumbled onto his past investigation that listed Mary as a person of interest. But he also wanted to ask Cat about something as well. He wanted to ask her about Vincent Keller. He wondered what the odds were that Vincent was the guy she was talking about. And if he was the guy, Ben wondered if after all these years, she was still heartbroken over his death.

He took a sip of his coffee and looked out the window. He began thinking about last night, being with Catherine and the intimacy they shared together. It was mind blowing. His mind wandered farther as he thought about her incredible luscious body on top of him, underneath him, his hands gliding along her perfectly smooth soft skin, his mouth covering her supple pillowy lips. He thought about the way she moved, her body grinding against his and the way she felt when he was inside of her tight... _Jeezus._ He shifted in his seat and shook his head to bring him back to the here and now. The last thing he needed was a hard-on right there in the coffee shop. Cat was gone by the time he woke up in the morning. All she left behind was a note that said "Thank you." He knew with absolute certainty that last night wouldn't happen again, and although he didn't have any regrets whatsoever, he knew it would be best to keep last night in the past. In fact, being with Catherine helped him want to take another look at the relationship/non-relationship that he and Mary shared. He wondered how much Mary actually cared for him. During his own investigation of her, he sometimes wondered if she was just using him. If she was, it certainly worked. Ben shook his head and took another sip of his coffee. At that moment, Cat was walking into the coffee shop. He waved her over to where he was seated.

"Hey, thanks for meeting me here," she smiled as she sat across from him.

"No problem at all," Ben smiled back. "So what's going on?"

"My boss, Joe, he wants a file on Dr. Harris - Mary." Cat went straight to the point.

"What?" Ben's brows furrowed, "Why? Didn't you tell him there was nothing on her?"

"I did and my partner backed me up, on my word." Cat paused, "Look, I'm just gonna talk to Mary, ask very basic questions and that's it. You told me she's clean, so I'm not gonna bust my chops investigating her. A simple file. Simple background check, then done. Joe won't press me, or my partner, any further about her. I just wanted to give you a head's up in case you wondered why I went to go see her."

"You saw her already?" Ben asked.

"Not yet. I wasn't sure if you wanted to let her know to expect me since she's your friend."

Ben nodded, "Thanks, I will. I'll let her know."

"Good. I'll be heading to the hospital after we're done here," Cat smiled, just then the waitress walked up and placed a cup of coffee in front of Cat. She thanked the waitress. She watched Ben as he took his phone out and sent a long text.

"Okay, I let her know that you'll be coming by soon to speak with her," he said. A few seconds later, his phone rang. He looked at Cat, she just smiled and raised her brows as if to go ahead and answer. Hesitantly, he answered his phone.

"Hey, Mary... yeah... don't worry, it's nothing. I'm actually with her right now... Yeah...it's fine, it's all fine... okay... I'll see you tonight."

Ben put his phone down onto the table.

"Is she okay?" Cat asked, a little suspicious.

"Yeah, yeah. She's fine. She'll be waiting for you in the ER," Ben assured her.

"I got the impression she was nervous," Cat looked at Ben, waiting for a reaction but he just shook his head.

"Nope, she's fine." he needed to change the subject. "Hey, something came across my desk this morning about a case I was working on - the one you happened to come by that night near the alley."

Cat gulped, "Oh really? What was it?" _Please don't be anything about Vincent. Please..._

"Yeah, my partner gave me a file. Turns out we got a match on a partial print found on one of the dead guys, " Ben took a sip of his coffee.

"Oh yeah? So who's the guy that saved the girl?" Cat needed Ben to remember that whoever that guy was, he came to the aid of a woman who was about to get gang raped and probably killed.

"That's the strange thing... he didn't."

"What do you mean?" Cat was curious.

"The print that matched the partial we found was of a dead guy," Ben took another sip of his coffee.

"Okaay... that's really weird." _Oh god._ Cat almost stuttered, "Wha...what was his name?"

Ben put his mug down, and looked into Cat's eyes. "His name was Vincent Keller."

Cat stared back into his eyes. _Oh god._

Ben took note of her silence but continued anyway, "It gets even stranger."

"Oh yeah? How so?" Cat needed to bring back her poker face. She already let him see her hesitate at hearing Vincent's name.

"The file included a picture of him," Ben crossed his arms and leaned onto the table. "Turns out the guy looks a whole lot like me."

"Oh, wow... that's pretty crazy, huh?" she tried to play it off and chuckled.

"So, you've never heard of him?" Ben asked suspiciously.

"Can't say that I have," Cat lied. "Why do you ask?"

"Because I remember you telling me that I look just like someone you knew. I thought 'what a small world this would be' if maybe this was the guy you were talking about. And the reason you couldn't be with him was, well, because he died. Thought maybe you hadn't gotten over him after all these years... but, if you've never heard of this guy. Then I guess I have another twin out there since this one's dead." Ben sat back in his chair, he hoped he didn't sound harsh but now he was really curious as to who Cat was talking about.

Cat took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled. "Yeah, well, you do look similar to a guy I know but it doesn't matter, he's not even in the area and it's been years since I've seen him. So..." Cat tried to brush it off then sighed. "So, what are you gonna do? About that Vincent Keller guy?"

Ben shrugged, "There's nothing to do. The guy's dead and dead men don't talk. The system only matched the partial we had, so whoever that guy was in the alley that saved the victim, he mustn't even be in the system. Not a criminal or at the very least, never worked a job that required finger printing. Besides, my partner and I aren't too keen on wasting time hunting down the victim's 'hero'. That's what she calls him, her 'hero'... Besides, we've got other cases to work on."

Cat smiled and nodded at his response. _Thank goodness._

"Well, Ben, thanks for meeting me on such short notice," Cat looked at him and they shared a knowing look. She was sure he saw the note she left this morning, but she really didn't want to talk about last night. And she didn't have any regrets.

"You're welcome," he smiled softly and said, "Anytime."


	10. Chapter 10

****A/N: Thank you for the reviews and enjoying this story with me so far! ****

 _ **PART 10**_

"So how'd it go?" Ben asked Mary as he poured her a drink.

"It went well, actually. That detective wasn't as pushy as I thought she would be. She just asked some really basic questions, which I answered truthfully, then I gave her a bunch of medical jargon about Mr. Taylor's condition, what he came into the ER for, what we did to treat him, and that was it. She didn't seem suspicious of anything as far as I was concerned," Mary took a sip of her drink.

"Good. That's good," Ben nodded. He was thankful Cat kept her word and didn't push anything with Mary. He definitely owed her one.

"And exactly how did this detective - who was gorgeous by the way - find out about me and what did you say to her that made her... not as pushy with me? Because the way you described her to me before, I was sure she would ask me a lot more tougher questions than she did."

"We crossed paths at a crime scene I was working and we started talking a little about our cases," Ben lied about the time table of events. "She mentioned she had a lead about an ER doctor that treated Mr. Taylor and told me your name. I told her that you're a good friend of mine and you'd certainly give her any information on Mr. Taylor that you had."

"Hmm... well, then that makes sense. Thanks for looking out for me," she smiled, then bit her lip.

"You're welcome," Ben grinned. "You know I'll always be looking out for you, right?"

"Yes, I know." Mary nodded, "And why is that, Ben? What makes me so special to you?"

Ben smirked and leaned onto his counter, looking her straight into her eyes. "I don't know, why don't you tell me. Why do you keep coming back to my place?"

"Because you're the one person, other than Des, that knows what I do... and I can tell you things that I don't want anyone else to know."

"Is that it?" Ben asked.

"No," she shook her head. "And... because I can let go of things when I'm with you... because I feel safe when I'm with you."

Ben gave her a half-smile, suddenly feeling guilty about last night. He was also physically tired because of his night with Catherine and lack of sleep but Mary was giving him a look and he knew that look quite well.

She hopped off the stool she was sitting on and walked around the counter to Ben. She brought her hands up to his shoulders and stared into his eyes. There was something about her that kept him from completely trusting her, but he knew he would do anything for this beautiful woman. He also knew he would never tell her about his one-time fling with Cat. Even though he couldn't tell if Mary thought about him as more than friends-with-benefits, it didn't matter.

"You're always looking out for me," she whispered before leaning up and pressing her lips against his.

Ben kissed her back, opening his mouth to her and she pushed her tongue in anxiously in search of his. Their tongues met and their kisses were deep. It was always like this with them, fast and hard. There were a few exceptions when they took it slow but usually not. Mary moaned as Ben's hands moved up underneath her dress, pulling her panty down. She shimmied her legs allowing her panty to fall the rest of the way down her legs. Ben easily picked her up and sat her onto the edge of his counter as he stood between her legs. He undid his belt and the button and fly of his jeans. He closed his eyes as she kissed and moaned against his neck. For a brief second, an image of Catherine flashed in his mind. _What the hell?! I need to stop thinking about Cat!_ Ben grabbed Mary's hips and pulled her against him, pushing his entire length inside of her, he began pumping harder and faster, gazing down at Mary's face as he forced any thought of Catherine out of his head.

* * *

"Vincent?" Catherine called out as she entered the warehouse loft.

"Over here," his smooth raspy voice answered. He was standing at a work table fixing some kind of electrical equipment. He stopped and put his tools down when she walked up to him.

"Hey," he smiled, looking down at her. "Thanks for coming."

"Ofcourse," she smiled up at him. She really missed spending time with him.

"I heard you were looking into a Dr. Mary Harris and - "

"Wait," Catherine cut him off, "I don't even remember telling you about my case. How did you hear... about..." her voice trailed off as she paused a moment, and thought hard. _Oh god...no way... did he follow me to Ben's?! Was he outside of Ben's trailer last night?!_

Her eyes widened and she immediately looked up at Vincent. She could tell by his sad smile and the expression in his warm brown eyes that her hunch was correct _. He must have been there last night when I went to Ben's trailer._ She remembered hearing something in the woods when she arrived at Ben's... _oh god,_ _that movement I heard in the woods... that was Vincent..._

"Did... did you follow me last night?" she dreaded asking since she already knew the answer.

He nodded slowly. "I just... I wanted to make sure you were okay. But don't worry, I didn't stick around because..." he let out a breath and looked down for a moment, shaking his head, his arms folded. "You were, uhh... obviously okay."

Vincent looked at Catherine again, his jaw clenched, she could see the hurt look in his eyes and she couldn't believe it. She felt horrible. But then she remembered Alex. _Wait, why should I feel guilty about having a one night stand with someone when he tossed me aside for Alex? Am I suppose to wait around and hope he and Alex break up?_ Catherine wasn't going to go easy on him this time, not when she felt that he was trying to make her feel guilty.

"Vincent, what I do on my spare time - anytime, really - is no longer any of your business. I told you that I wanted us to be together and I gave you a choice. You chose to be with Alex, remember?! I didn't come all the way here for you to lecture me about who I can and can't sleep with." Catherine was pissed, "I knew coming here was a mistake."

She turned her back to him and headed towards the door when faster than the blink of an eye, Vincent was suddenly in front of her, blocking her way.

"Okay, wait." He had his hands up in front of him, "It was wrong of me to follow you, I had no right, and I didn't ask you here to lecture you. Catherine, I know you can be with whomever you want to be with... and that's all my fault because I screwed up. Believe me, if I could take back that night when you opened up to me, I would take it back in a heartbeat. I really would. So please, don't go. Please... not yet."

Catherine wouldn't look up at him and she could feel his eyes gazing down at her, waiting for her to atleast look in his direction. She was a mixed bag of emotions. She was upset, angry, and confused, even embarrassed that he knew she was with another man, and her heart was racing being this close to him again. She was so mad at him but she missed him so much at the same time.

"Catherine, please look at me... _please..._ "

His voice was low, calm, pleading. She slowly looked up at him, tears welling up in her eyes.

"You hurt me, Vincent..." she whispered quietly, the tears escaping her eyes. She quickly wiped them away and looked back down again. Vincent made a move to reach out to her but she took a small step back, he put his hands back down in retreat. A moment of silence passed between them.

Determined to win her back, he took a step closer to her, the tips of his fingers gently lifting her chin. She didn't resist. He placed his hands at the sides of her face.

"Catherine, please believe me, I don't ever want to hurt you again... I'm sorry... I'm so sorry."

He stared deep into her beautiful green eyes hoping she could see the sincerity and honesty in his words. She nodded slowly. Vincent softly brushed her cheeks once more with the pads of his thumbs before moving his hands down away from her face.

"Vincent, I can't be someone that you keep on the back burner whenever it suits you." She took in a deep breath before continuing, "... and I don't know what's going on between you and Alex but I can't be your second choice either."

"Believe me, you're not," he replied with conviction.

"Really?" she asked slightly sarcastic. "Because the moment you saw her, I became your 'handler'." Catherine was beginning to feel irritated by him again.

"Catherine, I didn't know what else to tell her." Vincent sighed. " There I was, suddenly back in her life after she thought I was dead for all of these years... I didn't think it would be fair to tell her 'Oh, by the way, I have feelings for that detective you met and in fact, I've been watching over her the past nine years. But hey, sorry I never reached out to you even though the last time we talked you were planning our wedding'... Catherine, I couldn't do that to her."

Catherine sighed and took a seat at his small table. After hearing him explain it like that, she understood a little better. She had to put herself in Alex's shoes, which she hadn't done before. Her feelings and anger with Vincent clouded her judgement when it came to him and Alex. She began to realize that maybe him having spent time with Alex atleast gave them both a chance to find out if there was still something there between them and if not, atleast find closure and put an end to that chapter of the life they shared. She hated when Vincent was right but she would never admit it to him. He was still wrong for the way he handled things with her though, and for that she wasn't going to give him a pass.

Finally she spoke, "Vincent, why are you telling me all of this now? Because I was with someone else last night?" She regretted saying that last part the moment she finished saying it. The sting of it was written all over his face.

"Because I don't want to lose you," he answered, his jaw clenched a moment.

"And what about Alex?"

"She's gone."

"What do you mean 'she's gone'?" Catherine was completely confused.

"She's moved away. She wanted to start all over again and she wanted me to go with her," he looked at Catherine.

"But you.. you stayed? What did you tell Alex?"

"I'm still here, yeah." Vincent smiled softly at her. "I didn't have to tell Alex anything, she already knew."

"She knew what?" Catherine asked.

"She knew how I felt about you," he stared deep into her eyes, " how I _still_ feel about you... I told you, Catherine. I don't want to lose you."

"Vincent... " Catherine was beginning to feel overwhelmed. She had put up so many walls before meeting Vincent, but he was the one man who managed to bust through those walls. She was happy to find someone she could trust, someone she could love. But when the time came for her to tell him how she felt, he had turned her away. She immediately put those walls back up again and reinforced them, her trust shattered, her hopes of finding love was torn from her. Now he was telling her that he wants to be with her.

Vincent could sense her doubt and he couldn't blame her, not for everything he put her through but he hoped that she would understand why he did what he did with Alex. He would do anything and everything for Catherine.

"Catherine, I don't expect you to trust me after what's happened between us... but I'll do everything I can to earn your trust again. If your feelings for me have changed and you want to be with that other guy - "

"Vincent, stop right there." Catherine had to make herself clear, "Ben is just a friend and I don't want to be with him. What happened last night, with me and Ben, I was... I was just trying to forget about you."

Vincent's jaw clenched at the reminder that she was intimate with another man, and he was trying hard not to let his jealousy cause a fire within him.

"And, uhh, did it work?" he asked, a small hint of jealousy in the tone of his voice.

Catherine looked back up to Vincent, "Ofcourse not."

"So... I still have a chance?" a slight smirk appeared on his handsome face.

Catherine tried not to smile, _damn him for being so handsome._ "Maybe a small chance... let's just take things slow."

"I can do slow," he nodded, his gaze piercing hers.

 _Oh my god, the things he does to me with just a simple look in my direction._ Catherine broke away from their gaze and cleared her throat. "Okay, so what was it that you were saying about my case?"

"Uhh, yeah," Vincent shook his head, he didn't mind the sudden shift in their conversation. "That doctor, Dr. Mary Harris, she's lying."

"What?" Catherine's brows furrowed, "What are you talking about?"

"I followed you into the ER when you questioned her. She was lying to you."

"Vincent, you went _into_ the ER? Someone could have seen you!" she was shocked he would risk being seen.

"It was so packed in there, no one would have noticed me," he grinned.

"Vincent," she sighed. "How do you know she was lying? Oh, nevermind." Catherine remembered immediately that Vincent was a walking polygraph machine. Vincent smirked, Catherine continued, "What was she lying about?"

"She was lying about Mr. Taylor. You asked her if she saw him again after that night, she said 'no' but she was lying."

"Vincent, without any proof, I can't do anything else with her. Besides, Ben vouched for her," Catherine doubted Vincent's observation of Mary.

"Yeah, well, he's lying, too."

"What are you talking about?" she was beginning to wonder if he was just playing games with her but that wasn't like Vincent.

"Remember, I was outside his trailer last night, listening. He was lying about Mary. He knows more than what he's told you."

"Vincent..." she shook her head, doubtful. She didn't want to believe Ben was lying to her.

"Just telling you what I observed," Vincent shrugged, sitting back in his chair, his arms folded over in front of him. "Look, maybe I'm wrong. Or maybe he's trying to protect her..."

Catherine looked up at Vincent, "What do you mean?"

Vincent sat up, then leaned his arm onto the table and looked straight into her eyes, "What I mean is... like how _you_ protect _me_."


	11. Chapter 11

_**PART 11**_

"Got that file on Dr. Harris ready for Joe?" Tess asked her partner as she sat down at her desk.

"Almost done," Cat responded while typing into her computer. It wasn't a large file on Mary but it was something she could atleast give Joe. She decided not to hold off giving Joe the file. Instead, she would give him what she had on Dr. Mary Harris, which wasn't much but it also basically ruled her out as a suspect. But she would still look into what Vincent had told her last night.

"Cat, I've got a dental appointment in a couple of hours but I think I'm going to take the rest of the day off afterwards," Tess sighed.

"You okay?" Cat asked, concerned.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine, I just need to take a sick day," Tess sighed again. "You think you'll be alright without me for a day?"

"Hmmm..." she wrinkled her nose, then smiled, "I think I'll survive!"

"Excellent!" Tess smiled from ear to ear.

This would give Catherine a chance to see if Ben would be willing to meet up with her real quick. After what Vincent told her, she was curious to find out if Ben really was holding something back. He had already admitted to her that Mary came up in one of his own investigations. So maybe there was something more to look into with the good doctor.

"I don't know about this case, Tess. We have a whole lot of - "

"Nothing," Tess finished Cat's sentence and Cat nodded. "I agree with ya, partner. But Cat, if we can find out where the Pento came from, then it'll help us tie up some loose ends, or open the dead ends up."

"Hmm... can't argue with you there," Cat nodded. Then finished typing off more information into her computer.

"So what're you doing for your day off tomorrow? Any special plans?" Tess asked.

"Nah, just the usual... Running, kick-boxing, maybe some quality sister time with Heather. How about you?"

"I'm thinking about hitting the Spa. I'm in dire need of a deep tissue massage and facial. You should join me!" Tess was smiling.

"I just might do that!" Cat seriously needed some quality "me" time and spoiling herself at the Spa sounded perfect. After the emotional roller coaster Vincent had put her through the last couple of weeks, and then his admittance to her last night, her mind was still spinning.

She thought about her conversation with Vincent last night and how he opened her eyes up to the possibility that Ben might be protecting Mary for reasons still unknown to her. She didn't stay much longer with Vincent after that, basically leaving right after she thanked him for his input about her case. She could tell that he wanted her to stay longer but it was just too much, too soon. She was still processing everything he told her about him and Alex. In the meantime, she told Vincent to lay low, she would let him know what she found out and not to worry about her case. She just wanted him to be safe and stay inside the warehouse.

* * *

"Ben, we have to make a visit to our alley vic, Mattie Ross," Frank was standing at Ben's desk.

"What for?" Ben asked, slightly confused. "The last time we spoke with her, she seemed ready to put it all behind her and move on with her life."

"Yeah, I know. But the boss wants us to ask her a couple of more questions about her 'hero'. So let's go."

"Alright, man." Ben grabbed his jacket and he and his partner walked towards the exit.

As soon as they stepped outside, Ben saw her walking towards their direction from across the street but she hadn't seen him yet. Frank noticed that Ben stopped walking and looked towards what caught Ben's attention. He saw that Ben was staring at a beautiful lady walking their way.

"Who's the hottie?" Frank asked, nudging Ben with his elbow. Ben grinned.

"Detective Chandler!" Ben yelled out. Catherine looked around then smiled as she saw Ben wave her over.

"Detective, huh? Where'd you meet her?" Frank smiled.

"At a crime scene," Ben answered. A few seconds later, Cat was standing in front of them.

"I was just about to go in to see you," Cat said, her radiant smile lighting up her face.

"Oh yeah? It's good you caught me then," Ben smiled back. "Oh, let me introduce you to my partner and good friend." He looked at Frank, "This is Detective Frank Gaines. Frank, meet Detective Catherine Chandler." Ben looked back at Cat who already had her hand out.

"Hello Detective Gaines. It's a pleasure meeting you."

"Pleasure's all mine, and you can call me Frank," he smiled at Cat and she nodded as they shook hands. Frank figured she probably wanted a moment alone with Ben so he said, "I'm gonna grab a cup of coffee, would either you like anything?"

"Thank you for asking but, no, thank you," Cat smiled.

Ben shook his head, "Nah man, I'm good, thanks."

"Alright then, I'll be right back," Frank turned to Cat and smiled once more before walking down the steps and towards the coffee vendor.

"So Cat, what brings you around here?" Ben asked.

"Sorry, I should've called you first. I just wanted to ask you a few things, about my case. Do you think we could meet up later? Since clearly now is not a good time."

"Yeah, yeah, ofcourse. I'll tell Frank that I need to run a couple of personal errands this afternoon. Can I text you later? "

"Yes, that'd be great," she smiled again. "I'll see you later then."

"No problem," Ben grinned and he watched as she walked away. He saw her stop to shake Frank's hand one more time as he was coming back up. Then she ran back across the street and into her car.

Frank walked up to Ben and they both waved to Cat as she drove away.

"She's a cutie," Frank commented before taking a sip of his coffee.

"Yes, she is... and more..." Ben muttered.

"Wait, what? Something going on between you two?!" Frank looked at Ben.

"What? Oh, no, not at all, man. She's just a friend." Ben and Frank started walking towards Frank's car.

"You know what? I recognize her now. Wasn't she the chic you took off with the night of the alley homicide?" Frank remembered.

"Yep, she was." Ben was purposely being vague and not giving Frank too much information. He knew if Frank found out Cat was investigating a possible physician-assisted-suicide, it might open a can of worms and Ben's old investigation. He had to make sure Cat and Frank don't cross paths again, or at the very least, ask Cat not to mention anything to his partner about her case.

"Alright, man, I won't get all up in your business!" Frank joked.

"Trust me, man. It's all just business with her," Ben joked back. "I wish it weren't, but it is what it is!"

* * *

Vincent was restless and wanted to see Catherine but JT had him on lockdown and although he could still easily leave the warehouse if he wanted to, he made a promise to Catherine that he would stay put in the loft. _Atleast for today_ , he smirked.

He decided he would follow Mary later tonight, just to see if she goes anywhere suspicious after her shift in the ER was over. If it seemed like she was going straight home, he wasn't going to follow her any further than that. But if she was going somewhere else, he would check it out. He was curious to find out why she was lying when Catherine was questioning her. He also wanted to find out why that guy Ben was lying to Cat.

 _Ben_. The thought of that guy irritated the hell out of him. He wished he would've made some kind of racket outside of that guy's trailer that night to maybe get Catherine to come to her senses and leave before anything would've happened. But he could feel her loneliness, and it was all his fault for making her feel that way.

He wanted so bad to make things up to her and show her how much he needs her in his life. How much he wants her in his life.

 _She just needs some time... she'll come around._

* * *

"Miss Ross, if you don't mind, we'd like to just ask you a couple of questions about that night," Frank began as he and Ben sat across from the alley victim, Mattie Ross, in her small living room.

"I'm not sure what else you want to know. I told you guys everything," Mattie answered.

"We appreciate that, we just want to make sure we didn't miss anything is all. Would that be alright?" Ben asked, a soft smile on his face.

"Sure, okay." Mattie smiled and nodded.

"So, the man that came to your aid that night - "

"My hero?" she quickly asked, interrupting Frank.

"Yes, him," Frank answered then looked at some notes. "We wrote that you never saw his face, is that correct?"

"Yes. I only saw his back. He was very tall and muscular... but not overly muscular like those huge Mr. Universe types," she nodded.

Ben understood then asked, "Did he say anything to you... or even to the guys that attacked you?"

"No, he didn't say anything to me," she paused a moment, her eyes looking down as if in thought. Then she looked up at the detectives and said, "I don't remember him saying anything to those guys either, but..."

"But?" Ben asked. He and Frank both wondering if she finally remembered something else she hadn't told them in her original statement.

"Nevermind, you'll think I'm crazy," she shook her head and pursed her lips.

"No, not at all," Frank tried to get her to continue.

"Miss Ross, please feel free to tell us anything you can remember," Ben spoke gently to her, "Anything at all."

"If you find him, are you going to arrest him?" she asked, "Because he didn't do anything wrong. He saved my life, and I don't want him to be in any trouble."

"No, he won't be in trouble," Frank answered. Ben nodded in agreement.

"We just want to find out who he is, maybe ask him some questions and that's it," Ben added.

Mattie sighed. "Well, like I said, you'll think I'm crazy and I seriously doubt it will help you find him."

"Any information you can give us... we'll appreciate it," Frank said. Mattie nodded. Ben listened.

"Okay... Like I said, he didn't say anything to anyone but I thought I heard something... when he was fighting off those two guys... it sounded like he let out... I don't know... a _growl_ maybe?" Mattie looked at the detectives, an unsure expression on her face.

"A _growl_?" Ben asked, thinking he may have misheard her. "You mean, he let out a grunt, right? Like when someone picks up something really heavy?"

"No, I mean he let out a growl. Like... I don't know... like an animal growl, or something like that," she shrugged. "I told you it sounds crazy."

"No, it's not crazy," Frank tried to assure her, he didn't want her to feel like she had to hold anything else back.

"Is there anything else you can remember?" Ben asked, hoping she could remember something that would actually be useful in helping them find her hero.

"Maybe... one more thing... but it's even crazier than the growl..."

Ben and Frank glanced at each other quickly before looking back at Miss Ross.

"Please tell us," Frank urged.

Mattie took a deep breath then said, "It's true that I didn't see his face... it was so dark in the alley... but there was a moment when he first appeared and he turned his head... and I, like, saw him from the side... but it was like so fast, so I thought maybe I was just imagining things... but it was like a quick flash so maybe it was just a reflection..."

"What did you see?" Ben asked gently.

"His eyes... I saw his eyes ...and for a second it looked like they glowed."

* * *

"Man, oh man," Frank was shaking his head as he and Ben got into the car.

"Yeah, that was a little crazy." Ben rubbed a hand over his face, "and not helpful at all."

"I think Miss Ross might've been watching them Twilight movies before we came over," Frank joked. Ben chuckled.

"Yeah well, what're we supposed to tell the boss? She heard him growl and his eyes glowed? No way am I writing that shit in the report," Ben shook his head.

"Yeah, let's just keep those tidbits between us and Miss Ross," Frank suggested.

"Agreed. We'll just tell the captain she gave us the same info she did before. Nothing new to add," Ben looked over at Frank for his response.

"Yeah man, sounds good to me," Frank nodded.

* * *

Several hours later, Cat met with Ben at a small park near her precinct. She was sitting on a bench sipping some coffee when he walked up to her and they greeted each other.

"So what's going on?" Ben asked, sitting down next to her. She turned slightly to face him.

"Ben, I wanted to ask you a few things - totally off the record and just between us," Cat wasn't sure how to ask him the things she wanted to ask but she had to know if he was lying.

Ben looked at her with a cautious expression. "Okay... what do you need to ask me?"

"Well, before I get into all that," Cat smiled at Ben, " I just want to say 'thanks' for... well, the other night... for being there for me."

Ben grinned, "You're welcome... and, uhh, thank you for letting me."

Cat blushed. "And thank you for not stalking me, although it probably seems like I'm stalking you!"

"It is starting to feel that way!" Ben joked and they both laughed together.

"Well, I assure you that I am not!" Cat laughed. She really enjoyed this strange friendship they had together.

"Okay, Cat. Now that you've buttered me up," Ben smiled at her, "what is it you want to ask me?" He decided that he would trust Cat and if she asked the right questions, maybe he wasn't going to lie to her anymore. But he still wasn't going to willingly give her information about Mary's side business.

"Ben, what if I told you that my gut is telling me that you know something… something that might be related to my case but for some reason, you just aren't telling me?" Cat looked deep into his eyes.

Ben looked away, then back at her. His own gut was telling him that she was holding something back from him as well. But for all he knew, it could be something she found out about Mary. He looked straight into her eyes and answered her question with his own question, "And what if I told you that my gut is telling me the same thing about you?"


	12. Chapter 12

_********_ **A/N: Thank you again, BATB fanfic friends, for the reviews and enjoying this with me! Just a few more chapters to go! ******

 _ **PART 12**_

Catherine looked away and shook her head. She wanted to call his bluff. She knew that he didn't have anything on her and as far as Vincent was concerned, Ben still had no definitive proof that Catherine even knew any Vincent Keller at all.

"Ben, what exactly do you think I'm hiding from you?"

He was about to answer when she quickly added, "And don't answer my question with a question."

"You're good, Cat." Ben smirked and shook his head. "Okay. I'll be honest with you, I have no clue what you're hiding from me. But my gut tells me that you're definitely holding back."

"Well, everyone has secrets. Why should I tell you mine?" Cat asked.

"I could ask you the same thing," Ben sighed, shaking his head. "Cat, we can talk in circles like this all day but the point is you're right. Everyone has secrets. Is that what you asked me here for? Because honestly, we may have slept together but I don't know you well enough to tell you mine."

 _Touche._

Cat let out a breath and sat back against the bench, looking straight ahead. Thoughts ran through her head and she just started speaking about what came to her mind. She was tired of lies and holding back. If she expected Ben to give her something, she knew she might have to share a little something in return.

"No, I didn't ask you here for your secrets," Catherine spoke slowly, her focus still straight ahead instead of looking at Ben. "And you're right, you're absolutely right, we really don't know each other at all... and sleeping together doesn't automatically make us close friends. I asked you here because I thought maybe you were holding something back about my case and that maybe Mary knows something more but for some reason, you're not telling me."

Catherine looked over at Ben. The expression in his eyes gave away the guilt he was feeling.

"Cat, what I said... about not knowing you well enough... I didn't mean..." he stumbled with his words and was feeling like a prick for what he said a moment ago. "I know that you know what we did doesn't suddenly make us close friends - "

"Ben, it's okay. I already told you that night that I wasn't looking for a relationship, so don't feel bad about what you said. It's true, we hardly know each other," Cat looked down and started to feel regret for having stayed the night with him.

"That's the thing though... I _want_ to get to know you..." Ben let out another sigh, then rubbed his face with his hands as he sat back. "Because I know we _can_ be pretty damn good friends. I like you, Cat... but I'm really trying my damndest not to like you too much."

"What?" Cat looked at him, she was confused and slightly taken aback.

Ben shook his head, "You asked me if I had a girlfriend and I don't. But... I do have an intimate relationship with Mary."

"I thought so." Catherine said but was thinking _I knew it!_

"Yeah, well, I think she and I are probably still testing the waters with each other before getting involved exclusively."

"So what does that have to do with me?" Cat asked softly, genuinely confused.

"Cat, ever since that night we spent together," Ben took in a deep breath and let it out, then shook his head. "Nah, forget I even mentioned it."

"Ben, no, don't stop. Please?" Cat asked. Ben looked at her, his jaw clenched.

"I don't know," he sat back, "Don't think I'm weird, but I ... I can't stop thinking about you... it's like, you'll pop into my head and... I don't know... even when I was with Mary last night..." Ben shook his head again, now slightly embarrassed, "I don't even know why I'm telling you all of this."

"Ben, it's okay," she wanted him to trust her because in her heart she knew that she could trust him, too. "Please, go on."

Ben nodded, "I feel like I should be with Mary and yet, I'm thinking about you. I know you said that you weren't looking for a relationship but I feel like you are... and I know you don't want it with me. So maybe I just need to hear you tell me that, you know? So I can stop thinking about you and wondering about the possiblities."

Catherine was touched by his honesty about her and so she felt it necessary to be honest with him as well.

"Ben, I'm going to be honest with you," it was her turn to take a deep breath, then she let it out slowly and continued. "That guy that I told you about? Well... I _do_ still love him. In fact, I never stopped... and yes, you're right... I do want a relationship... with him."

Ben nodded slowly as he looked down. Cat touched his wrist and he looked back to her.

"But I have to be totally honest with you, too... I have thought about that night with you... and wow, I've got to say... If this were another life or another time, I would definitely want to give it a go... at being with _you_ ," Cat looked into his eyes and smiled, "... and if not you, then definitely someone like you."

Ben let out a chuckle, "Well, see? That does help." He smiled, feeling better that he was able to get all of that off of his chest and that now he can focus more on his relationship with Mary since there were no blurred lines between him and Cat.

"I really do want us to be good friends, Ben." Cat stated. "And I really want you to know that you can tell me anything."

His gut told him that he could trust Cat, but his loyalty to Mary in keeping her secret kept him from saying anything incriminating.

"Cat, the truth is... there are a lot of things I'd like to tell you. And yes, a lot of it has to deal with Mary... she's a good person with a good heart. You need to know that," he looked over at her. Cat's brows were furrowed in thought but she nodded slowly. She knew even with everything Vincent had done, and the people he had killed as a result of trying to save other people, he was also still a good person with a good heart.

"Ben, please believe me when I tell you that I can totally understand and relate... and please believe me when I tell you that you can trust me," she looked deep into his eyes.

Ben stared back into her eyes, he knew she was telling the truth. He nodded and said, "Alright then. There is something that I need to tell you. But not here. Can you meet me at my place later?"

Cat nodded, "Ofcourse."

"Okay then," Ben smiled and let out a long sigh.

"What's wrong?" Cat asked.

"Well, now I have to go meet back up with my partner so we can break it to our boss that our alley victim didn't have anything else to say about her hero."

"You questioned her again?" Cat began to feel a little nervous. She thought Ben and his partner were done with that case.

"Yeah, that's where Frank and I were headed when you saw us this morning. After we saw her, we worked a few leads on another case so we haven't spoken to our boss yet."

"So she couldn't remember anything else?"

"Oh, she could," Ben grinned, "but nothing we could use."

"Oh yeah? What'd she remember?" Cat was curious.

"It's too ridiculous to repeat," Ben chuckled. "Besides, Frank and I agreed to keep it between ourselves."

"Oh come on," Cat laughed trying to get the info out, "Just tell me! I swear, I won't say a thing to anyone. Not even my own partner!"

"You swear?" Ben raised his brow.

Cat made the sign of a cross over her heart, "I swear!"

"Alright, alright," Ben shook his head and grinned. "She told us that she heard the guy growl and that his eyes glowed. Can you believe that?!" He shook his head again.

Cat's eyes widened then she quickly forced a laugh and shook her head as if in disbelief, "Wow, that _is_ crazy!"

"That's exactly why Frank and I are keeping it to ourselves. So don't repeat it to anyone," Ben chuckled then stood up. "Well, I really have to go. I'll see you later?"

"Yeah, ofcourse," Cat smiled. Ben smiled back and Cat watched as he walked away, her thoughts going back to Vincent.

* * *

Vincent just completed his workout and grabbed a bottle of water out of the fridge. He took several large gulps then set it down onto the table and went to the bathroom to take a nice hot shower.

Catherine couldn't stop thinking about Vincent so she decided to check in on him at the warehouse. She also wanted to make sure he didn't leave and was staying put like she and JT asked him to. She made a stop at a Deli first since she hadn't eaten yet and wanted to bring Vincent something in case he hadn't eaten either.

By the time Cat got to the warehouse, Vincent was finishing up in the shower. He turned his head towards the bathroom door sensing her presence nearby. He shut the water off and grabbed his towel.

"Vincent?" she called out as she entered the loft. "Vincent, are you here?"

Catherine set the bagged lunch down onto the small table and scanned the loft. She was about to call out his name again when he suddenly came around the corner from the hall that led to the restroom. Catherine's jaw nearly dropped to the floor as Vincent walked into the room. His hair was still wet from the shower and the only thing covering his well-sculpted body was a towel that was wrapped around his waist.

 _Oh dear god,_ Catherine thought to herself, her heart began to beat a little faster.

"Hey," Vincent grinned as he walked closer to her. He could hear her heart beat accelerate.

"Hi.. umm.. I.. I.. I.." Catherine couldn't form a coherent sentence as half-naked Vincent finally stood right in front of her. To avoid staring at his abs, she looked up at him, a grin still shown on his handsome face. She tried to continue, ".. I.. just.. I..." _jeezus Catherine, spit it out,_ she thought to herself then closed her eyes, took a breath, and opened her eyes again. She glanced over her shoulder to the brown paper bag on his table, then back to him, "I brought you something to eat."

Vincent eyed the bag on the table right behind her.

"Thanks, Catherine." Vincent's grin turned into a smile, he moistened his lower lip then said, "I'll just go put some clothes on."

"Yeah, okay," she could feel herself blushing. "I'll wait right here."

Vincent grinned again and Catherine turned away to give him privacy.

"So what's going on? Anything new about your case?" Vincent spoke out as he changed.

"Uhh, not really... but there was something that came up about you... about the girl you saved in the alley," Catherine said loudly so that he could hear her.

"Oh yeah?" Vincent spoke out.

"Yeah," Catherine answered loudly.

"And what would that be?" Vincent's raspy voice startled Catherine as he was now standing behind her. She quickly turned around, he was shirtless.

"Oh, that was fast," Catherine muttered. _Why is he so sexy?_

Vincent put his shirt on then ran his fingers once through his hair, combing his damp hair back and smiled at her.

"You hungry? Thirsty?" Vincent asked as he picked up the brown bag.

Catherine shook her head and cleared her throat, "No, thanks. I'm fine. I already ate on the way here."

Vincent nodded and he and Catherine both sat down at the table.

"So what did you find out? About me?" Vincent asked then took a large bite out of the turkey and avocado sandwich that Catherine brought for him.

"Vincent, the girl you saved... that night in the alley," Catherine looked at Vincent, he nodded and took another bite of his sandwich. Catherine continued," She told Ben and his partner that she thought she heard you _growl_."

Vincent looked up and swallowed his food. He reached for his water bottle and took a large swig of water then asked, "Did she say anything else?"

Catherine nodded, "Yeah... she also told them that she thought she saw your eyes glow."

Vincent sat back in his chair and shook his head. _Shit._

"But, there's good news," Cat said and Vincent looked over at her, his eyes asking the " _What?"_ question for him. She answered, "Ben and his partner don't believe her. They think she's a little crazy or just imagining things... so, they're not even going to add any of that in their report."

"Well, that _is_ good news," Vincent let out a sigh and smiled, then picked up his sandwich and finished it off.

* * *

Ben was outside his trailer cleaning up some brush and loose branches from his front area. He was tossing some of the branches back into the woods when he noticed something on one of the trees.

"What the hell?" he muttered as he looked closer.

Deep scratch marks were embedded in the tree and from the looks of them, and the fact that the exposed wood pulp still looked fresh, they were fairly recent and done by something fairly large. He stepped back and scanned the woods all around him.

"There bears around here?" he asked himself, looking around, then shook his head.

Then he squatted low next to the tree and searched for any sign of animal tracks or bear paw prints on the ground but found none. As he looked closer, he did notice something else. He saw what looked to be a couple of large men's sized boot prints in the dry mud behind the tree. He stood up and put his foot next to it. The prints appeared to be the exact same size shoe he wore, size 12, but he knew they didn't belong to him. He quickly forgot about the scratch marks on the tree when he realized that the position, of whomever it was that wore those boots, was facing his trailer.

 _Is someone watching me?_

He scanned the area again carefully and wondered who the hell was on his property recently and what the hell were they doing watching his trailer.


	13. Chapter 13

_**PART 13**_

Ben had spent the whole afternoon thinking of what to tell Cat. He knew that he couldn't put Mary in a position that would get her investigated and quite possibly arrested. He also knew the risks he was taking for always covering Mary and there was no sign that Mary was going to stop doing her side business. Mary was too invested in it and she fully believed she was helping people. He also knew that he did not want to put the burden of that information on Cat's shoulders. He had to give Cat information that might help her close Mr. Taylor's case but that would also get Mary out of Cat's suspicions.

Ben was sitting outside in front of his trailer with beer in hand and smoking a cigarette when Cat pulled up. She had a radiant smile on her face which was contagious and Ben couldn't help but smile as well.

"Hey, there! Sorry it took awhile, I was stuck in traffic," Cat sat in the chair next to Ben.

"Would you like a drink?" Ben asked reaching into the cooler next to him.

"Sure," Cat nodded. Ben handed her a bottle of beer after removing its cap. "Thanks," she smiled and took a swig. It was a gorgeous late afternoon and she found this relaxing.

"Thanks for coming over here, I just didn't want anyone listening in on our conversation. Especially with what I want to tell you," Ben said to Cat. He took a drag from his cigarette then put it out in the ashtray on the ground next to him, away from Cat.

"Ofcourse," Cat nodded.

"First, I need to know that everything I'm going to tell you will remain between us and is completely off the record," Ben looked at Cat, waiting confirmation.

"Ofcourse, Ben. You can trust me." Cat was getting a little nervous. If Ben were to admit to her that Mary knew who the person was that provided Mr. Taylor with the Pento and Cat didn't provide that information to Joe or Tess, then Cat would be hindering an ongoing investigation and she could lose her badge.

Ben lit another cigarette and took a small drag then exhaled. He didn't look at Cat as he spoke, his eyes were cast downward but not really looking at anything in particular. His brows furrowed as he thought hard, wanting to keep his thoughts on track.

"Cat, I need you to know that Mary - she's a great doctor, she really is... and she cares about people with her whole heart. That's why she became a doctor in the first place. She wanted a profession where she could help people in every way she can."

Cat nodded and she continued to listen.

"As a doctor, she's seen all kinds of things, especially working in the ER. I mean, you and I, as detectives, we've seen our fair share of things but we usually just deal with the aftermath. Doctors, they deal with the present, the ongoing illnesses, pain... they treat people who can be treated and cured... and they treat people who are barely hanging on, but still, they continue to do their best to assist those people to have some kind of quality life up until the bitter end."

He paused a moment to take a swig of his beer. Catherine continued to listen. It was time for Ben to give Cat some information, even if he was covering up the actual truth.

"I'm telling you this because Mary would never harm anyone. That's not the kind of person she is, so I don't want you to ever think she is suspect. Anyway, as far as your case is concerned, Mr. Taylor asked her a question and she answered it... He asked her about the kind of drugs vets might use to put animals down and she told him," Ben stopped there and looked at Cat. She was looking down, then looked at Ben.

"She told him about the Pento, didn't she?" Cat asked, her brows furrowed.

Ben nodded. "Yep... that's why Mary was nervous when you wanted to question her."

Cat nodded her understanding then took a sip of her beer. "Ben, is that all she told him?"

Ben nodded. _More lies, but I have to protect Mary and keep the burden off Catherine._

"Well, I'm still not any closer to finding out _where_ Mr. Taylor got the pento..." she looked to Ben, "Thanks for telling me this. I assure you, I won't drag her into anything. All she did was answer his question, something he could have even looked up online. And I'm certain she had no idea he had any suicidal ideation."

Ben nodded again. Cat sighed, there was really nothing else to ask him about Mary.

"So, how'd it go with your boss? When you told him the alley vic had nothing new to add?" Cat curiously asked.

"Ah yeah, he wasn't very pleased but there's nothing else to do about it. Guess we'll never find out who her 'hero' was."

"Yeah... I guess not," Cat took another sip of her beer. She scanned around his area, it was pretty peaceful in his area and she said so, "It's nice out here... quiet... a nice escape from the city."

"Yeah, it's alright." Ben shook his head and grinned, "But I think there might be a lone bear around here, which is kind of strange for this area."

"A bear? Seriously?" Cat looked over at him in disbelief, "Why would you think that?!"

"Because what I saw over there," he nodded towards the woods. Cat followed his gaze.

"What did you see?" she asked, her eyes squinting but all she saw were trees.

"Follow me, I'll show you."

Ben got up from his chair and Cat followed him towards the closest trees.

"See that?" Ben pointed to a tree and Cat's eyes widened. She was looking at deep scratch marks scarring the tree in front of them and her gut told her they weren't made from any bear. She knew they were made by Vincent.

"Wow..." she mumbled under her breath.

"Yeah, never seen them before but I'm guessing probably a bear. I mean, what else would make those? I didn't see any prints though. But I saw these," Ben squatted on the ground and Cat followed suit.

"What... are those boot marks?" Cat asked. _Damnit, Vincent..._

"Yeah, and they aren't mine... same size as mine, but those aren't mine. So either someone was watching my trailer recently, or maybe someone was near my property," he looked over at Cat then joked, "You don't have me under surveillance, do you?"

"Very funny," Cat smirked. " And no, I don't have you under surveillance."

She and Ben both stood up and walked back to the front of his trailer.

"Well Ben, I've got to go. Thanks for the information and don't worry, I won't push anything with Mary. I'll let you know if anything interesting comes up," she smiled and handed him her empty beer bottle.

"Thanks, Cat. I appreciate it. Take care of yourself," he smiled back at her.

"You, too, Ben. I'll see you around."

As Ben watched Cat drive away, his cell rang. It was his partner, Frank.

"Hey, man! You in my area? Come by for a drink!" Ben asked smiling while putting the empty beer bottles in a recycling bin.

"Nah man, I wish!" Frank chuckled, "I have to meet up with my girl for date night."

Ben laughed, "So what's up, man?"

"I just wanted to tell you real quick. Found out something weird about our already weird case."

"Oh yeah? What now?" Ben sat down and lit a cigarette.

"Our ME told me there was a scratch mark on one of the dead guys."

"Scratch mark? So what, maybe Mattie was able to get in a few good scratches on that asshole who was attacking her." Ben took a drag of his cigarette.

"Yeah, that's what I told the ME. But then he said it was thicker than typical scratch marks."

"Thicker? What do you mean 'thicker'?" Another drag of his cigarette.

"I mean like 'claws-of-a-fuckin'-animal' thicker," Frank chuckled. Ben exhaled and his brows furrowed. He turned his head to look at the tree bearing the scratch marks that he showed Cat just a moment ago.

"Ben? You there, man? Hello?" Frank thought the cell connection dropped.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm here, man," Ben put his cigarette out. "Yeah, that's crazy."

"That's what I told the ME. Listen, we'll talk more tomorrow. I just had to tell you!"

"Alright, thanks. I'll talk to you tomorrow." Ben hung up then walked to the tree again. He spread his fingers over the scratch marks, then looked down at the boot prints on the ground.

 _This is too weird,_ he thought.


	14. Chapter 14

_**PART 14**_

Vincent was well hidden in the darkness of the wooded area next to the large house in the upper class neighborhood. He watched as Mary and her friend (he heard her call him "Des") sat in her SUV after parking in the street in front of the sprawling house. For a fancy residence, Vincent's keen eyes noticed the house was outfitted with only two security cameras: one above the main front entrance and one above the four car garage. They appeared to be motion activated. Vincent concentrated and listened carefully as the two spoke in her vehicle.

"What are we doing here, Des? I don't want to go in there!" Mary sounded extremely upset.

"I know, Mary, and I don't want you to be here. But the only way Dimitri will give us another batch of Pento is if he meets you. He figured out I had a 'partner' and had someone follow me," Des sighed. "I'm sorry, Mary, but if you want your Pento, we have to do this. Or..."

"Or, what?" Mary looked at Des.

"Or... we can quit all of this now," he looked to Mary. "We've done what we could but the stakes are too high, Mary. We can't keep - "

"No," Mary said bluntly. "No, we can't stop. I won't stop."

Des sighed again and shook his head, "Are you sure you want to do this? Because I'm not so sure, anymore."

"Yes, Des. I'm absolutely sure. But if you're having doubts, then maybe you shouldn't be in this with me. I can go in there by myself."

Mary was about to open her car door.

"Wait," Des stopped her. "We'll do this together. I'm not letting you go in there by yourself. Just... don't touch anything in there. Dimitri is strange about his things and he's a bit paranoid. He always thinks people are watching him so he doesn't even have hidden cameras in his home for fear they'll get hacked into."

"Well, that works in our favor then. I don't want any proof that I was even here," Mary took in a deep breath, nervous. "Okay, let's do this. I'm ready."

Vincent watched as the pair left their vehicle and walked to the front door. He noticed they kept their backs to the security cameras and kept their faces down, avoiding being caught on camera. Once they were let in, Vincent moved in closer, going around to the back of the house and avoiding the cameras there as well. He crouched low as he peered in through the large floor-to-ceiling scenic windows.

"Dimitri, this is my partner," Des motioned to Mary. He and Mary were facing Dimitri, two of Dimitri's security men were standing directly behind the pair.

Dimitri was sitting back casually on a large sofa, both of his arms spread out along the top of the couch. A bag filled with a couple of boxes full of Pento-filled viles in batches was sitting on the table off to the side. Vincent could hear Des and Mary's heart beats, they were beating fast, both of them very nervous. _Stay calm, you two,_ Vincent thought even though he knew neither Mary nor Des could hear him, _those guys will eat you up if they sense the slightest bit of fear._

"Ahh, so you are this idiot's partner. I've been wanting to meet you... you're very pretty... Miss?" Dimitri asked, his voice deep and intimidating, and he was slurring his words.

"Mary," she spoke quietly at first, then more confident. "My name is Mary."

"Hmm..." Dimitri stared at her, looking her up and down. Des looked at Mary then Dimitri. Des could tell that he had been drinking and Des knew from his own experience with Dimitri that Dimitri was a mean drunk, a very mean, very aggressive, and very brutal drunk. He'd once witnessed Dimitri beat a man to near death with a golf club. After that incident, he knew to never meet with Dimitri unless he absolutely had to. Usually, Des would get the Pento from a middle man of Dimitri's but because of the amount Des was purchasing lately, Dimitri somehow grew suspicious.

"Dimitri, we really don't want to waste any of your precious time. So if we could just pick up the batch, we'll be on our way," Des wanted to get this over with and get Mary out of there as quickly as possible.

"Are you rushing me?!" Dimitri spoke angrily. He stood up, "Do you not see that I am talking to this lovely woman?!"

"I'm sorry, and no, I'm not rushing you by any means. Not at all," Des was getting more nervous.

"What is the big rush, huh?!" Dimitri suddenly pulled out a gun. Mary and Des instantly stepped back but both the security men placed their hands on Mary and Des, keeping them from going any further.

"There's no rush, really!" Mary said nervously.

"No, Miss Mary, I think your partner here has a big mouth and I think I don't trust you," Dimitri began waving his gun around. "Are you police lady? Is this why you are anxious to leave, huh?"

"Dimitri, please, we're only here to pick up the Pento. I am not the police. I am a doctor," Mary pleaded trying to remain calm, "We can certainly stay awhile, there's no rush, really!"

Dimitri snickered, "Ohh yes, I would very much like _you_ to stay, Miss Mary." He walked over to Mary and looked her up and down, then he pointed the gun towards Des while his beady eyes continued staring at Mary, "I think you would very much enjoy staying, Miss Mary."

Mary's heart was racing, she was nearly on the verge of tears frightened of what was going to happen next. Des started shaking his head, "Dimitri, please, we don't want any trouble, please."

"SHUT UP!" Dimitri yelled and pistol whipped Des at the side of his head, instantly knocking him unconscious and Des fell to the floor.

"DES!" Mary yelled out wanting to reach out for Des but she instantly froze in place when Dimitri placed the barrel of the gun against the side of her face. Outside, Vincent's hands balled up into fists, his jaws clenched, and his eyes flashed gold.

Mary had nowhere to go, the man behind her was holding her securely in place and Dimitri kept the gun pressed against her face. He leaned in close to her, and his fingers caressed her cheek.

"You're very pretty, Miss Mary," Dimitri slurred. "I think me and my men would like very much to party with you tonight. Right boys?!" The men all laughed and nodded their heads. "Yes, yes, let us show Miss Mary how we like to party!"

His pudgy fingers began unbuttoning the top of her blouse, tears fell from Mary's face as she seemed to have lost her voice. Her heart was racing even more, she was finding it difficult to breathe, fear took over her completely and when he ripped her blouse open, she instinctively kneed him strongly in his crotch.

"You BITCH!" he cried out, clutching his wounded private parts. Dimitri pointed the gun at Mary's face, ready to shoot her, she immediately cowered and held her arms up in defense to cover herself.

Suddenly an extremely loud crash drew everyone's attention, the large floor to ceiling glass panel windows shattered and the security men ran past Mary, their guns drawn. Mary immediately dropped to the floor and quickly crawled to Des, trying to wake him as the gunshots rang out. Her eyes widened with fear as she watched the beastly looking man that crashed through the window shove one of the security men forcefully against the wall, injuring him. The other guard tried to shoot him but missed, and the beast grabbed the guy by the neck. Her attention quickly went to Dimitri who was now staggering towards her with his gun pointing right at her. Mary leaned over Des, her arms held tightly onto her unconscious friend as she stared down the barrel of Dimitri's gun, tears ran down her cheeks. She was about to close her eyes at her inevitable demise when all of a sudden Dimitri was lifted into the air. Mary watched in horror as the beastly man easily broke Dimitri's neck with one hand then dropped Dimitri's lifeless body onto the floor. Dimitri's gun slid near Mary. The beast stared at Mary, his breathing heavy. Mary was completely terrified but the creature seemed to be looking at her as if to make sure she was okay. Movement behind him caught Mary's eye, she quickly grabbed Dimitri's gun and yelled "MOVE!" pointing it in the direction of the beast. The beast immediately turned to look behind him and Mary fired the gun, killing the injured guard that was about to shoot the beastly man. The beast growled then turned back around to face Mary, she put the gun down, her eyes still wide with fear. He tilted his head then, faster than she could blink, he disappeared through the way he came in.

 _What... what... the hell was that..._ Mary thought to herself, still in shock. _He had to have been wearing a mask... but the way he lifted Dimitri, like a doll... and the sounds he made... no, it had to have been a mask... and I was just hearing things... but he moved so fast..._

Mary took several deep breaths to try and get herself together. She could not believe everything that just happened. She shook Des again and he was finally coming back to consciousness. She grabbed her cell phone out of her pocket and immediately called Ben.

* * *

Catherine finished drying her hair and was still in her robe when she got Vincent's text.

 _Fire escape._

She went to her bedroom window and Vincent was sitting on the stair steps. She could tell something was wrong.

"Vincent, come inside."

He came in and she closed the window behind him, pulling the curtains closed.

"What's wrong? I thought I asked you to stay put at the loft. Did something happen?" she asked as she sat on her bed. Vincent remained standing near her, his hands in his jacket pockets.

"Catherine, I followed Mary."

"You _what_?" she asked, shaking her head.

"I followed Mary and her friend, some guy named Des."

"Vincent," Catherine stood up, clearly upset, her hands on her hips. "I told you not to go anywhere!"

"I know," Vincent sighed, "But just listen."

Catherine looked up at him, crossing her arms in front of her, her brows raised.

"I followed them to what turned out to be a dealer's house."

Catherine's brows furrowed, "Okay. Go on."

Vincent sighed, "I stayed outside and just listened. She and her friend were there to get Pento."

"What?!" Catherine asked in disbelief.

"They were there to get Pento."

"Are you sure?" Catherine asked but she already knew the answer. Vincent had keen senses, he could hear heartbeats, he could see in complete darkness, he could even smell poison.

He nodded, "Yes, I'm sure. But something went wrong."

Catherine sat back down on her bed, staring up at him. She was hesitant to ask but she had to, "Vincent, what went wrong?"

"That guy they went to get the Pento from, his name was Dimitri. He was, uhh, he was unhinged. He pistol whipped her friend, then he was going to do some serious harm to Mary."

"Vincent.." Catherine was afraid to ask, "... what did you do?"

He shook his head, then sat down next to her. "Catherine, those guys were going to rape her... she kicked Dimitri... he got pissed, he was going to shoot her... so I went in there. I took them out."

Catherine closed her eyes, "Vincent, how many?"

"There was Dimitri and two of his guards. But I killed Dimitri and one of the guards."

Catherine looked at Vincent, "What happened to the other one?"

Vincent looked at Catherine, "Mary shot and killed him... it happened pretty quick, I was looking at her to make sure she was okay... I didn't know he was behind me. He was gonna shoot me, but she shot him first."

Catherine nodded her head slowly, "So she saw you... in beast form?"

"Yeah."

"Vincent... when Ben finds out.. because I know she'll tell him... he's going to put it all together. I'll do everything I can to cover for you, but he's going to know that you and I are linked somehow," Catherine looked at Vincent.

"No, he won't. The only other time he heard of some beast was from the victim in the alley. That incident and tonight has nothing to do with you."

"Vincent, he saw claw marks on a tree outside of his trailer. He showed them to me when I met with him earlier today to get information about Mary. I know that you made them."

"But he doesn't know that. He probably thinks a bear did that." Vincent looked at Catherine.

"I don't know... he said he didn't find any animal prints but... he saw boot prints behind said tree. Vincent, he's not an idiot."

Vincent shook his head, "Yeah, well. He may be smart, but do you really think he'll believe Mary saw a beast? She was pretty traumatized by Dimitri."

"I don't know, Vincent. I honestly don't know."

"Well, it doesn't matter, I guess." Vincent stood up.

"What do you mean?" Catherine asked, confused.

"I spoke to JT before coming here and told him what happened. And, uhh, since Mary is so close to Ben, and since she saw me, he thinks it's too risky... as much as I hate to agree with him - and I really hate to agree with him... we, uhh, we have to go."

"What do you mean 'go'?" Catherine asked, her eyes wide.

Vincent's jaw clenched as he looked down into her beautiful eyes, "We're leaving tonight, Catherine. We'll be gone by the morning."

"What?!" she stood up.

He shook his head and sighed, "Catherine, I just wanted to say 'goodbye'. I'm sorry."

* * *

Ben drove to the address Mary gave him as quickly as he could without using a siren so that he wouldn't attract attention. When she called him, her voice was shaky, she told him that she shot and killed someone, he told her to give him the address and he would be right there. He could tell that Mary was trying her best to remain calm and thankfully her experience working under high stress as an ER doctor helped come to play in keeping herself together.

As soon as he drove up, he saw Mary's SUV parked out front on the street. Ben quickly got out of his truck and drew his weapon. He ran to the house and cautiously stepped inside.

"Mary?" he called out as he entered the foyer and continued walking, as soon as he got into the open livingroom, Mary quickly turned around holding the gun up.

"Whoa! Mary, it's me!" Ben raised his hand up in front of him and holstered his gun.

"Ben!" she dropped the gun onto the floor and ran to him.

Ben hugged her tightly and she started weeping. She quickly wiped her eyes and took a few deep breaths, calming herself down.

"What the hell happened here?!" Ben asked. Des was sitting up against the wall, holding his head. Ben saw three dead bodies so far and there was broken glass everywhere he quickly assumed from the broken floor to ceiling window. Wind was coming in through the broken window, the curtains billowing.

"Ben, I shot that guy... " she pointed to one of the dead guys on the floor. She started to explain real quickly what happened, "Des and I, we just came here to get Pento. Then that guy, Dimitri," she pointed to the heavy set body on the floor, "he was going to shoot me, then some guy came and... he killed that guy over there and he killed Dimitri... but I shot that guy..." she pointed again to the same guy as earlier.

"Which gun did you touch?" Ben immediately asked.

"That one," she pointed to the one she dropped on the floor. Ben put a pair of gloves on.

"Okay. Did you and Des touch anything else in here?"

"No." Mary looked frightened and still in shock, "Ben, what do we do? I don't know what to do."

Ben nodded, "It'll be okay. Just take Des and get out of here. Go home. Act like this never happened."

Mary nodded. She went to Des who was still clutching the side of his aching head and he got up from the floor. Before leaving, Mary grabbed the bag full of Pento.

"Wait!" Ben called out. He walked up to Mary and Des.

Ben looked down at the bag full of Pento. "I'll need one of those."

Mary nodded and Ben reached in with his gloved hands taking one of the boxed batches.

"Okay, now go. Quickly." he instructed. Mary nodded understanding the urgency to leave before the rest of the police show up. She wasn't able to give Ben more details other than what she already told him but she would tell him later about the beastly man.

Ben watched as Mary and Des left quickly. He put the Pento down onto the table next to the couch. He picked up the gun that Mary handled and wiped it down then pressed Dimitri's hands around it and placed the gun near him. Ben looked around for the security tapes and found the room but to Mary and Des's luck, the camera's weren't even recording anything, they were set to real time viewing only. _Phew._

Ben quickly left the scene as well. He knew it would be called in soon because a guy like that dealer Dimitri would surely have visitors soon.


	15. Chapter 15

_**REMINDER: THIS IS RATED M. I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THE CHARACTERS AND DO NOT PROFIT FROM THIS STORY.**_

 **** A/N: Sorry for the late update, BATB fanfic friends, but no worries, I will NOT leave this story incomplete! ***  
**

 _ **PART 15  
**_

He shook his head and sighed, "Catherine, I just wanted to say 'goodbye'. I'm sorry."

"Vincent, you can't just leave, this is crazy!" she looked up at him, her eyes pleading with him.

"Catherine, you said it yourself - once Mary tells Ben what she saw, he'll put things together. I can protect you from that by getting far away from here. Without me here, they'll find no link between us."

Catherine shook her head in disagreement. "Vincent, here or not, Ben will still figure out the link. Leaving won't make a difference!"

"Catherine, don't..." Vincent sighed and shook his head at her pleading him to stay. She was beginning to make him doubt whether he and JT should really take off.

She took a step closer to him and looked up at him, her eyes stared into his warm brown eyes, then she whispered, "Vincent... please don't go."

"Catherine..." his expression was sad.

"Vincent, we can get through this..." she smiled, "...together."

"You really believe that?" Vincent asked softly.

"I do," she nodded, "and I know you do, too."

Vincent gazed down at Catherine's smiling face, her eyes shining with confidence. He couldn't help but smile back.

"You're amazing, you know that?" he gently placed his hand at the side of her face.

Catherine's heart was racing. There was no way she was going to let him leave her alone, not when they just found each other again. She needed him in her life and she needed him to know that. When he told her recently how he felt about her, she was afraid to tell him how much she really cared for him but she wasn't afraid anymore. She needed to let him know.

"Vincent, I can't lose you again," she whispered. She closed her eyes at the feel of his touch, his fingers at the side of her neck, his thumb caressing her cheek. She opened her eyes and looked up at him. His eyes were warm, full of want and untold emotion. With a beautiful smile on her face she said, "I love you."

Vincent longed for this moment. To be with her like this, close to her, and to hear her say those words to him. He could sense her heart beating just as fast as his. He could sense she was just as anxious as he was. He couldn't hold back any longer and he didn't want to either. He immediately leaned in and pressed a tender kiss onto her soft supple lips.

 _Yesss... finally._ Catherine dreamt of this moment, to feel Vincent's lips upon hers and to have that dream come true was nothing short of amazing. Heat instantly overcame her and she pressed her lips back against his, returning his sweet kiss.

He kissed her once more then pulled back a moment and looked into her eyes.

"Catherine... I am so in love with you."

She stared back into his eyes, her heart was beating fast.

"Stay with me tonight, Vincent... don't go. Please... don't go."

He looked deep into her eyes, his thumb lightly caressed her cheek and he whispered, "I won't."

Catherine smiled softly then took a step back and watched as Vincent took his jacket off and placed it on the chair near her vanity. He sat on the edge of her bed and loosened his boot laces then removed his boots and socks, and placed them on the floor. He stood back up and looked down at Catherine.

"I can sleep out on your couch, or the floor here... whichever you prefer."

"Well, I was thinking more of..." she looked over at her bed and whispered, "...there."

Catherine looked back up to Vincent and stepped closer to him, they stared into each other's eyes, their gaze unwavering. Vincent leaned in and Catherine was anxious to feel his lips upon hers once again. Her heart was beating faster the closer he got, and when he gently placed his hands at the sides of her face, she closed her eyes ready to feel his kiss.

Vincent tenderly pressed a kiss against Catherine's pillowy lips, and when she pressed a kiss back his pulse began to race. He could sense her arousal and he was just as aroused, if not more, but he wondered just how far he could go without losing control. He hadn't been with a woman in such a long time and although Alex had made several attempts to be intimate with him, he never gave in. Mostly because of his feelings for Catherine but also because he was afraid he wouldn't be able to control the beast in him. He began to wonder if he would be able to control himself with Catherine and when her lips parted and he dared to put his tongue into her sweet mouth to meet hers, he doubted himself even more.

When Catherine felt the tip of his tongue lave the breadth of her lower lip, a rush of heat washed over her body. Her lips opened up to him, she was anxious to taste him and when his delicious tongue made entrance, she didn't hesitate to press her tongue against his.

Their love and passion for each other was undeniable and it was made even more evident in the intimacy of the way they kissed each other. The way Vincent's hands would gently cradle Catherine's head as their tongues would slowly caress and swirl together, sharing an erotic and passionate slow dance, stirring their senses and awakening every nerve in their body. The beautiful dance continued like this, their tongues gently swirling and twirling, and pushing against one another, their mouths taking turns sucking each other's tongue until the tempo began to change and their need for each other heightened.

Vincent's pulse started to race even faster and when Catherine pressed her very aroused body against his, he had to pull back away from her. Catherine immediately opened her eyes and saw Vincent's eyes were gold. His breathing was heavy and fast, he took several steps back and stood against her wall.

"Vincent, just calm down... it's okay," Catherine stepped up to him, then hesitantly placed her hands on his arms, "... just breathe..."

Vincent's eyes were still gold and he was taking in deep breaths. His voice was husky, "It's okay.. it's okay... it'll pass... just give me a minute."

Vincent ran his hands through his hair and held the top his head, his eyes were closed and he took in several deep breaths, exhaling slowly each time. Catherine looked up at him, worried. When he opened his eyes again, they were back to normal. He tucked his hands into the front pockets of his jeans and leaned back against her wall.

"Catherine," he shook his head, his expression sad, "I don't know if I can do this. I'm scared I might lose control... and I don't want to hurt you."

"You won't hurt me," she smiled softly. She held his wrists and he pulled his hands out of his pockets to hold her hands. "Vincent, I know you won't hurt me."

Her confidence compelled Vincent to try and set his worries aside and to not give into his fears. Still holding hands, Catherine led him away from the wall and back to her bed. She didn't mind being the one to take the lead until Vincent was ready to take over. She let go of his hands and Vincent dropped his arms to his sides. He watched as Catherine's hands toyed with the bottom hem of his shirt. Instantly, he reached behind his neck and pulled his shirt off over his head then tossed it to the floor. He combed his hair back with his fingers and looked down at Catherine.

Vincent stood shirtless in front of Catherine and her eyes roamed every inch of his incredibly sculpted torso. Her hands reached out and her fingers lightly traced the ridges of his well-defined abs, all the way down to the sides of his adonis belt. She flattened her palms against his skin, her hands slowly moving back up his torso to the wide expanse of his muscular chest, to the tops of his solid broad shoulders, and down the length of his strong built arms.

The feel of Catherine's touch made Vincent's pulse begin to race again. Her delicate fingers tracing along his taut torso, her palms gliding over his skin, and the fact that he could sense her continued arousal was igniting the inferno deep within him. He looked down and she was looking up at him, her beautiful big eyes mirrored the same desire he was feeling. Their gaze was locked onto each other, even as Vincent placed one hand at the side of her face and the pad of his thumb gently caressed her supple lower lip, even as his hand moved down to her neck then over her breast, even when his hands moved down to the belt of her robe and he slowly pulled the knot loose, they continued staring deep into each other's eyes. It was when the front of her robe opened slightly that their gaze broke. Vincent looked down, his hands opened her robe even more, partially exposing her beautiful body underneath. He looked back into Catherine's eyes and she stared into his heavy-lidded eyes full of want, her lips parted as if to say something but before she could, he covered her mouth with his.

Their mouths opened and their tongues swirled together, their kisses even more passionate, more urgent. Catherine moaned her want for Vincent into his mouth and she felt his hands push her robe open in response, sliding her robe off of her shoulders and down her arms. Her robe now fell to the floor.

Vincent broke away from Catherine's sweet mouth so that he could look at his love as she stood completey naked in front of him. His eyes roamed every inch of her body, from her perky round breasts and perfect nipples, to her small waist and smooth flat stomach, to the curves of her hips, to her bikini-waxed lower region, then back up to her gorgeous face and kiss-swollen lips.

"You're so beautiful," Vincent whispered, his voice husky.

He gently grabbed her small waist and pulled her close to him as he stepped forward into her, backing her up against her tall wardrobe, Catherine placed her hands at the tops of his shoulders and their mouths crashed together again. She closed her eyes at the feel of his large warm hands, his slightly rough palms as they glided over her body, sending shivers throughout her and sparking every nerve inside of her. Her body was on fire for him, she tilted her head back as his lips now gently brushed along her jaw and down her neck.

Vincent's senses were getting overwhelmed being this intimate with Catherine. From the taste of her delicious tongue in his mouth when they kissed, to the feel of her incredibly soft smooth skin under his fingertips. As he nuzzled his face in her neck, he could smell her shampoo that she just used in the shower before he came over, and the smell of her bath soap, and her body lotion, and most of all her own personal scent of arousal was driving him absolutely crazy. When he heard her quietly moan his name out, he knew he had to do everything he could to remain in control of himself and not let the beast take over.

"Ohh... Vincent..." she moaned again as his lips left a trail of kisses along her decolletage.

She pressed her fingers into his skin and gripped his shoulders. She loved the feel of his large strong hands moving slowly up her rib cage and she bit her bottom lip when they finally reached her breasts, and he squeezed them gently.

"Catherine..." he groaned against her skin.

Vincent moved one hand to the small of her back, pulled her closer, then lowered his hand further and groped her perfectly round bottom. His other hand massaged one of her breasts tweaking her nipple between his thumb and finger, while his mouth showered her other breast with attention. He licked the bottom curve of her breast all the way up to her already puckered nipple, his mouth tugging and pulling at it. Catherine laced her fingers into his hair and gently held the back of his head, her anxious body was screaming for more and when Vincent sucked her breast into his hot mouth, then did the same to her other breast, she couldn't help but breathlessly moan out her need for him.

"Vincent... I want you..."

That should have been enough for him to finish what they started but he wanted to pleasure her more. His hungry mouth continued his ravenous attack on her breasts while his hand moved from her rear to her front, his palm pressing up against the heat between her legs.

"I want you, too," he moaned against her breast before taking her into his mouth again.

His nerves were on edge and the combination of his adrenaline and his sensory overload for Catherine was a struggle to keep the beast at bay. He was rock hard for her but the little breathless moans escaping her sweet mouth as his fingers slid over her aching slit urged him on to continue pleasuring his beautiful lady love. He released her breast from his mouth, he showered her chest and neck with kisses as he straightened up a bit so that he could look at her. He wanted to watch her face as his fingers pleasured her. Her lids were heavy, he leaned in and pulled her bottom lip into his mouth, sucking it gently. She gripped his large biceps as his fingers dipped between the folds of her very wet slit, pressing and rubbing against her sensitive pearl.

Catherine's eyes remained closed as she fully submitted herself to Vincent and the incredible sensations he was providing her. Bounds of heat built up inside her as his fingers continued their relentless pursuit in pleasuring her. Her legs weakened and she leaned back against her wardrobe for support as she climbed higher and higher to the precipice of climax.

"Vincent... oh god... yess..." she moaned breathlessly and Vincent responded by dropping to his knees and removing his hand from between her legs.

Bewildered at the loss of his touch, she looked down at Vincent. His lids were heavy and he gave her a sexy grin. "Vincent, what -" she began to ask then she got her answer just as quickly when Vincent lifted her leg over his shoulder and his mouth went over her slit.

"Oh Vincent!" Catherine threw her head back and closed her eyes, losing herself once again as her body continued it's climb back up towards the precipice.

Vincent's large hands held Catherine up as he pleasured her orally, his talented tongue lapping away at her dripping wet pink flesh, exploring every sensitive ridge and fold. Catherine's body was burning for him, and when Vincent's tongue licked and flicked at her sensitive pearl, she grabbed the top of his head, her fingers gripped onto the locks of his hair. Her breath was caught in her throat, her stomach contracted and she moved her lower body with Vincent's mouth as he hungrily claimed possession of her.

"You're mine," he growled against her, exciting Catherine even more.

"Unhh...!" Catherine managed to breathlessly moan. Vincent planted his mouth onto her flesh, his tongue pressing against her engorged nub, sucking, flicking, circling it over and over again. He loved the taste of her, the fragrance of her, the sensations he could evoke from her. He knew she was about to climax and it drove him wild.

The feel of Vincent's hands on her body, his mouth and tongue pleasuring her in a way that no man had ever done before was incredible. She was about to fall over the precipice. Catherine pulled on Vincent's hair and she threw her head back, panting and moaning as wave after wave of pleasure rolled throughout her and her body crumbled into an explosion of erotic bliss.

Vincent immediately wrapped his strong arms around her and lifted her, Catherine held tightly onto his shoulders and they fell onto her bed. Their tongues met once more and their kisses deepened. Catherine could taste herself on Vincent's tongue, she could smell her fragrance on his mouth and she didn't care. Vincent's bare chest rubbed against Catherine's sensitive breasts and she ran her hands down the length of his wide muscular back. She gripped his firm ass then moved her hands to the front of his jeans. She could feel his incredibly large package bulging underneath the fabric of his jeans, aching to be set free from their confines. Vincent broke away from their kissing, they both panted for air and as he hovered over her, he looked down at Catherine's face. They both stared into each other's heavy lidded eyes, Catherine's fingers deftly undid his belt and top button of his jeans then pulled his zipper down. She reached in and grabbed hold of his impressive manlihood, pulling and stroking. She arched her back and spread her legs wide.

"I want you inside of me, Vincent..." she moaned.

Vincent's jaw clenched. _Jeezus, her hands feel good on me._ "I want you, Catherine... so fucking bad."

He slid off the bed and quickly removed his jeans and boxer briefs, then hovered back over Catherine, settling himself between her legs. He pulled her arms up over her head, his hands holding her wrists down as they stared into each other's eyes.

"You're so beautiful," he whispered, his voice husky. "Do you know that?"

Before she could answer, he covered her mouth with his and Catherine pushed her tongue in to meet his. Vincent's nerves and senses were in hyper-drive as he rubbed the length of his hard shaft against her very hot and wet slit, lubing himself with her juices. Catherine raised her hips, her empty core aching to be filled by every inch of his incredible long thick hardness. An inferno of heat rushed through their bodies and their tongues stilled against each other as Vincent's thick tip met her entrance and very slowly penetrated her tight slick center. He was larger than any man she had ever been with and her center clenched at the apprehension of his size. Vincent felt her resistance and he nuzzled his face into her neck.

"Relax, baby..." he whispered softly in her ear.

And she did, the feel of Vincent's kisses along the side of her neck and the stubble of his facial hair gently grating along her soft skin was enough to help her not tense up. Catherine's arms still above her head, she moved her hands into Vincent's and their fingers entwined together as they held each other's hands tightly. The sweet pain of Vincent's tortuous slow advance as he pushed into her inch by inch had Catherine's body yearning for him deep inside of her. Vincent pressed a soft kiss onto her lips then opened his eyes, he wanted to watch her face as he made love to her. Her eyes were closed, her brows furrowed, her kiss-swollen lips parted as small breathless moans escaped her sweet delicate mouth. He pushed the last of his long length inside of her, filling her completely and fully. He gave time for her body to adjust to his large size and when she opened her eyes, and moaned his name, he pulled out then slowly pushed his way back home again.

"Oh Vincent... yess..." she moaned, her hips moving with his.

"Catherine... you feel so fucking good..." Vincent groaned into her neck, the side of his face pressed against hers as their bodies moved together in a steady rhythm.

As much as Vincent wanted to keep the pace slow for Catherine, the hunger inside him was impatient. He began to pump into her a little faster and when Catherine freed her hands from his grip and groped his body, squeezing his strong arms, his back, his ass, Vincent immediately scooped his arms under her legs. Her ankles now at the top of his shoulders, the backs of her legs against his chest as he hovered over her, his muscular arms holding his weight as if he was doing a pushup. He thrust into her harder and faster, hitting her g-spot each time, and his pelvic bone rubbed against her engorged clit. Catherine gripped his wrists, Vincent was stimulating every nerve in her core and the sensations building up inside her were coming to a head.

"Oh god, Vincent... yess..." she panted breathlessly, urging him on. He very willingly obliged but he knew it wouldn't be long before he would find his own release. After all, it had been several many years since he had sex. Controlling the beast was one thing, but having his most sensitive body part finally inside the woman he was in love with was a whole other kind of control. And being with Catherine in this way was nothing short of amazing.

Vincent grew larger inside of Catherine's tight hot center, pumping and grinding, every nerve in his body on edge and ready to explode. Catherine was panting and she felt herself rising higher and higher, pressure building up inside of her, her fingers dug into Vincent's bulging biceps. Vincent could feel Catherine's velvety smooth inner walls clench around every inch of his thick hard shaft even tighter. He knew she was about to come and he wasn't too far behind her. He pulled almost completely out then thrust himself to the hilt back inside of her over and over and over again. Catherine's feet pointed and her toes curled, she screamed Vincent's name out as her body burst into an intense orgasm, waves of incredible ecstasy traveled throughout her entire body. Vincent couldn't hold back any longer, the pent up sexual energy inside of him screaming to be released, he pumped harder and faster, riding Catherine's orgasm out as her sex quivered and clamped onto him like a vise and with one final hard anxious thrust, he groaned out loud as he reached his own incredible climax and burst inside of her, showering her womb with his hot seed.


	16. Chapter 16

_**PART 16**_

It was early morning and the sun had just risen when Ben got the call from his partner. Frank told him to meet him at the residence of a known drug dealer. It was a triple homicide. When Ben walked into the house, Frank was squatting near the body of Dimitri. Ben noticed a few things were different about the scene than when he left it several hours ago. He noticed Dimitri's body was moved, as if someone was looking for something in his pockets. He also noticed the place was in a whole lot more disarray and that some pieces of art were clearly missing from the shelves and walls. _Someone or some persons definitely came in here and looted the place,_ Ben thought to himself.

"Okay... what do we got here?" Ben asked Frank.

"We got three dead bodies and a whole lot of missing shit," Frank shook his head as he stood up next to Ben. "But as far as details go... This guy here is Dimitri Popov. He's no stranger to the DEA guys. He was a wanna-be kingpin. Those two other vics were his bodyguards. Dimitri and one of his boys got their necks broken. The guy over there died from a bullet wound, center mass. That's my assessment anyway, but we'll need to wait to find out from the ME the actual cause of deaths."

"I noticed security cameras outside - anything caught on tape?" Ben asked although he already knew the answer, he was hoping to get confirmation that nothing was recorded.

"Nope," Frank answered then shook his head. "Man, this guy here could have bought state of the art security cams but he didn't. And the crap he did use, he didn't even bother recording anything. CSU guys said it looks like he only had them set up for live viewing only, so there's absolutely nothing on tape."

"Then at least one of his guys should've saw something coming, yeah? If they were manning the live feeds, anyway."

"Yeah, unless they knew the perps. Maybe they were taken by surprise afterwards," Frank guessed.

"Who found them?" Ben asked.

"The cleaning crew. The ladies came this morning as scheduled and walked in on this horrible scene. One of the ladies fainted, she was so shocked. The other two are still pretty shook up."

"Yeah, can't blame them… it's quite a scene to walk in on," Ben walked to the body closer to the couch and the broken window. Frank followed him. Ben didn't stick around long at all after Mary and Des left so he didn't get a chance to really scope the scene, but he definitely had a lot of questions to ask Mary about what happened.

The two detectives tried not to disturb the scene too much so that CSU could photograph and gather evidence. When they both walked to the broken floor-to-ceiling window, they noticed all the broken glass was on the inside.

"Whatever broke this huge glass panel came from outside," Ben observed. Then he and Frank looked around and came to the same conclusion but Ben said it outloud, "Doesn't look like a piece of outdoor furniture was used, otherwise we'd see it laying around in here somewhere."

"Hmm… could be they shot through the window?" Frank guessed.

"Yeah, man… could be. But looks like no spent shells outside… not that I can see, so far. We'll have to find out if those shell casings here are from the guards guns though. Man, this is gonna be a long fucking day," Ben let out a heavy sigh.

"Yep… but you know what gets me," Frank said and looked at Ben, "Why break their necks? I'm saying, if you got a gun - then why break their necks? They shot one of the dudes, anyway. Definitely more than one person did this, no doubt. Kind of strange, ain't it?"

"What? The two guys with their necks broken?" Ben raised his brows.

"Yeah, man. These two guys along with the fact that one of the guys from the alley also had his neck broken. What are the odds we'd be dealing with another homicide involving someone getting their neck snapped in less than two weeks?" Frank shook his head in disbelief.

"Yeah… that _is_ crazy…" Ben sighed again, thoughts running through his head about the odd coincidence. He then looked around some more, wondering where the Pento was that he left behind earlier. With a sigh of relief, he saw it still sitting on the console table. Whomever looted the place afterwards must not have even noticed it. He wondered if Frank had even seen it yet but his question was answered before he could ask.

"Oh, there's an unopened batch of Pentobarbital on the table over there," Frank nodded in the direction of the console table. Ben looked over, acting like he didn't see it.

"So Dimitri was into selling Pento? What else does he have around here?" Ben asked.

"Not sure yet. If he had stashes of anything else, whomever looted the place may have taken them. Not sure why they left that batch behind but who knows," Frank shrugged, "folks do some crazy stuff when they're in a rush to get out, forget things, leave things behind."

"Yeah, yeah. We've seen it happen plenty of times. Let's take a look outside."

Ben and Frank walked out to the back deck and looked around. Ben noticed partial boot prints near the broken pane and squatted down to take a closer look. If he wasn't mistaken, it appeared as if the person may have been squatting, judging by the position of the prints and the fact that Ben's feet were in the same position as well.

"Looks like someone may have been watching," Ben stated.

"Yeah... maybe waiting for a signal?" Frank surmised.

"Could be," Ben stood back up. "Alright, let's finish up here and let the CSU team do their work. We've got some calls to make."

"Sounds good to me, man." Frank agreed and headed back inside.

On a hunch, Ben used his cell phone to take a quick picture of the boot prints then went back inside to finish up with Frank.

* * *

Catherine woke up with Vincent's strong arms wrapped protectively around her, their bodies spooned together. She closed her eyes and smiled, not wanting to move, just wanting to stay there with him like that. She thought about the incredibly amazing night she and Vincent shared together. The way that he kissed her, touched her, made love to her, and cherished every part of her. She thought about the way that he looked deep into her eyes after their first time and he told her "I love you so much" with such emotion and conviction in his voice that she almost cried because she was so happy. She told him that she loved him just as much, and then they held each other close, falling asleep in each other's arms. It was everything she imagined it would be and more. She couldn't stop smiling when she thought about how they woke up in the middle of the night to make love again and it was just as intense as the first time. She knew this was the official beginning of their life together as a couple and she was determined to not let anyone stand in the way of their happiness.

She was off from work and since Heather was out of town, it would be the perfect day for her and Vincent to spend together. They could sleep in, have brunch together, watch movies, and for once forget about the world around them for at least a day. _Couldn't we?_ she thought to herself. But then reality answered and she knew she had to find out what happened last night with Mary and Mary's friend. From what Vincent had told her, that area where the dealer Dimitri lived would have been under Ben's precinct jurisdiction. She wondered if Ben and his partner would be the ones assigned to the homicide. Catherine sighed not wanting to think about all of that right now, also not realizing she sighed loud enough to wake Vincent.

"Good morning," his raspy voice whispered behind her.

Catherine felt him place a kiss near the top of her head.

"Good morning," she whispered back then turned to face him. "I'm sorry if I woke you."

"It's okay, I should probably head back home anyway before JT does something drastic," Vincent let out a sigh.

"Like what?" Catherine smiled.

"Like burn the place down," Vincent chuckled.

"He would do that?!" she asked almost laughing.

"If it meant getting rid of any last trace of me, yeah, he would."

Catherine sighed and snuggled close to him. "I'll go with you. I'm off today, anyway… besides, I still need to figure out how to approach Ben on what he may have heard - or not heard, about last night."

Vincent nodded, "Okay… we should probably leave soon then, yeah?"

"Hmmm… I need to jump in the shower first," Catherine slipped out of Vincent's arms and got out of bed, then turned to look at Vincent, a sly expression in her eyes. "You coming?"

Vincent looked her naked body up and down, a sexy grin shown on his handsome face, "Hell yeah."

* * *

After spending a few hours at Dimitri's, Ben and Frank were back at the precinct. The CSU had a lot to comb through and they didn't want to get in their way so the sooner the CSU could pull any prints they found, the better.

"Alright then, thanks for letting us know. Oh, and get in touch with us as soon as you guys are done with the victims from this morning's homicide... Yeah, that one. Thanks." Ben hung up his desk phone.

"Who was that?" Frank asked as he looked over a couple of files laid out on his desk.

"The Medical Examiner. You remember what you told me yesterday? About the scratch marks on one of the dead alley guys?" Ben sat back in his chair, waiting for Frank's response.

"Yeah, I remember. What'd the ME say about it now?"

"They swabbed for DNA and what they found was corrupted. They isolated the vic's DNA but the rest was of 'unknown origin' or a cross-mix of different animals, or something. So, who knows how the lab mixed that up, but it's not useable and they didn't have another sample to test."

"Well, damn, maybe Mattie's 'hero' worked in the fucking zoo," Frank shook his head and snickered. "Shit, we got nothing, now."

"Yep," Ben nodded. "Guess we're gonna have to put that one on the back burner."

"Works for me, man." Frank sighed. "Who knows, maybe we'll get lucky and this mysterious 'hero' dude will make another appearance and hopefully leave us something more than nothing next time."

"Yeah, no kidding," Ben chuckled. "Anyway, we have a shit load to go through on this Dimitri guy."

Earlier, Ben and Frank verified the cleaning crew's check in times with their employer and that it was almost immediately after they arrived at Dimitri's that the ladies called 911. Though it was obvious to both Ben and Frank that the cleaning ladies had nothing to do with the homicide and theft, they were able to officially rule them out as suspects. Now they were working on a list of Dimitri's inner circle and hoping to pull some of them in for questioning. It was a lot to go through and there was a ton of work to be done but Ben was getting anxious to get in touch with Mary. He hadn't spoken to her since he saw her at Dimitri's house and he needed to get more information from her and hopefully a description of the guy that killed Dimitri and one of the guards.

Ben thought about seeing her sooner rather than later so he could also check in on her and make sure she was okay. "Hey, Frank. I need to see a lady friend for a couple of hours. You think you can cover me?"

"Oooh... might this lady friend of yours be a smokin' hot petite detective?!" Frank joked.

Ben grinned and shook his head, "C'mon, man. Cat's just a friend. And 'no', it's not her."

"Yeah, yeah," Frank laughed. "You know I got you. But hey, let's leave together. I got some quick errands to run anyway, then we can meet back here and brainstorm this case of ours."

"Alright man, thanks. Sounds like a plan. Just don't do anything with the case without me."

"Ofcourse! I'm not touching that mess without you, partner!"

The two detectives grabbed their jackets and left the precinct together, then split ways once outside.

* * *

Are you both completely insane?" JT demanded to know, rubbing his hands over his face. Catherine and Vincent had arrived at the warehouse only moments ago and explained to JT why there was no need to run.

"JT, it'll be fine. Don't worry." Vincent tried to assure his friend, his voice calm as always.

"Don't worry? Don't WORRY? You ARE insane!" JT threw his hands up and turned his back to Vincent and Catherine, shaking his head.

"Look, I'll hook up with Ben, and find out what he knows," Catherine said then realized Vincent was side glancing her at her poor choice of words. "Not 'hook up' hook up - oh Vincent, you know what I mean!"

Vincent smirked then shook his head almost embarrassed that he even thought the wrong thing. He knew he had absolutely no reason to doubt her loyalty to him.

JT turned to face them, clearly still upset. "So once you and this Ben guy 'hook up', how the hell are you going to ask him about a homicide that you're not supposed to know anything about but somehow have knowledge of?! Are you going to tell him you're psychic?" JT angrily snapped at Catherine, very doubtful of her and Vincent's whole reasoning.

"JT, you _really_ need to calm down," Vincent's tone was serious, his jaw clenched. JT wasn't oblivious to the fact that his best friend was giving him a warning, not a suggestion.

"Alright," JT took in a deep breath, then sighed. "Alright... But how will you do it, Cat?" JT didn't mask his unwavering concern. "Look, it's not that I don't trust you, I just don't want anything to happen to Vincent. Or me, for that matter!"

Cat smiled softly at JT. She knew how much he sacrificed to hide Vincent all of these years and to protect his best friend. "JT, I promise you that I will not let anything happen to Vincent.. and you. If you really trust me then please, just trust me. I know what I'm doing."

JT looked down and let out another long sigh, then looked back up at Catherine and nodded slowly, "Okay."

Catherine nodded back, thankful. "Okay, good."

"So now what?" Vincent asked Catherine.

"Now... we lay low, especially you," she looked at Vincent, he nodded. Then she looked to JT," And you, you just need to do everything that you normally do, your same daily routine, don't change a thing."

"Got it." JT nodded, still not a hundred percent convinced, and grabbed his messenger bag, "On that note, I have to go. I've got some classes to teach. I'll see you guys later."

"JT, wait!" Catherine called out and ran up to him. When JT turned around, she took him completely by surprise and wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug.

"Thank you," she whispered as she hugged him. She really was thankful for him being in Vincent's life and keeping Vincent safe and hidden all these years, and she was thankful that JT was willing to trust her. JT hugged her back as if knowing what she was thinking. When they stepped away from each other, JT was feeling better. He looked down at Cat and smiled, then looked to Vincent.

Vincent smiled then nodded at his best friend and said, "See you later, man."

* * *

"Here you go," Mary handed Ben a cup of coffee, then sat down across from him at her kitchen table. She was still a little shaken up but better. She took the day off and her kids were already at school. Their father was going to pick them up after school and would be bringing them home later after dinner.

"Thanks," Ben took a sip then set his cup down onto the table. He looked at Mary, she was looking down. "Mary, what happened last night. Tell me."

She took a deep breath then exhaled slowly. "Okay, well, you know that Des and I went to see Dimitri to get some Pento."

Ben nodded, "Yeah, go on."

"And it wasn't long after we got there that things went downhill... very fast." Mary lit a cigarette and took a small drag. Ben listened. Mary continued, "Dimitri... he was drunk... he got upset with Des because Des just wanted us to get the Pento and leave... we just wanted to get it and leave."

Mary started shaking a bit then took another drag of her cigarette. In Ben's experience, he knew if he were to reach out to her, it might cause her to clam up and not say anything else. So he just sat there and listened, waiting for her to continue.

"Dimitri... he hit Des with his gun, hard enough to render him unconscious... then Dimitri... he... he... he pressed the gun against my face..." Mary dropped her cigarette into her ashtray and tears fell from her eyes, she covered her face with her hands and started sobbing for a few seconds. Ben wanted to reach out and hold her but she was already in the zone, she was already remembering the details. Mary took a few deep breaths and continued.

"He told me that he and his boys wanted to party with me," Mary was shaking, she wiped another tear from her face and picked up her cigarette. She took another drag and exhaled. "He... he, uhh, started to unbutton my blouse... his men, they were laughing with him... he ripped the rest of my blouse open..." more tears fell from her eyes, she took a drag from her cigarette and put it down. She wiped the tears from her eyes and face. After a few calming breaths, she continued, "I was so scared... I reacted... I kicked him in the groin... he got angry and pointed his gun at me. He was gonna shoot me... I remember closing my eyes and then all of a sudden..." Mary's brows furrowed, she seemed more calm and sure of herself. She looked up at Ben, "There was a loud crash... the guy came crashing through the window. The guards, they ran to him and I heard shots... but Dimitri, he was fixated on getting me... I remember leaning over Des... then Dimitri pointed his gun at me..."

Mary looked away and took another deep breath. "He was about to shoot me... then all of a sudden, that guy grabbed hold of Dimitri... and killed him... it happened so fast... I remember seeing one of the guards move behind the guy... the guard was gonna shoot him, so I grabbed Dimitri's gun and I shot the guard... and then the guy, he just ran off. He didn't say anything to me, he just... ran off."

Mary looked up at Ben, he smiled softly at her. "Thank you, Mary, for telling me what you remember. I know it wasn't easy for you. Was there anyone else with this guy?"

Mary shook her head. "No, he was by himself. No one else was with him."

"Are you sure?" he asked, doubtful.

Mary nodded but she knew Ben needed more. "I suppose you're going to ask me what the guy looked like, huh?"

"Yeah... I really need to know a little more about him, anything you can remember at all."

Mary let out a sigh and sat back in her chair. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Try me."

"Well... he was tall... muscular build... Ben, he was unusually strong... he was _really_ strong... he picked Dimitri up effortlessly... with one hand." She looked at Ben.

"Maybe adrenaline..?" Ben guessed.

"I know adrenaline can have some people experience extra strength, but Dimitri was a very big guy, Ben. You saw how heavy-set he was. This guy literally picked Dimitri up by the neck, lifted him in the air, and broke his neck - with one hand. That's impossible," Mary looked up at Ben.

"Okay... so let's say he had super-human strength, fine. But what did he _look_ like?" Ben needed to know.

Mary sighed, "Ben, I really don't know... it was like he had a mask on."

"What, like a rubber costume mask or something?"

"I don't know, maybe, something like that. He didn't look _normal_... I mean, his face looked... humanoid... but _monstrous_ , for lack of a better word... and I remember blue veins in his face... and... then there were his eyes."

Ben looked at Mary, his brows furrowed and tilted his head, "What _about_ his eyes?"

"It's gonna sound ridiculous," Mary rubbed her face with her hands and sighed.

"Well, we're talking about a guy who you've described so far as having super-human strength and looks like a human monster, so tell me about his eyes."

"Forget it." Mary got up from the table and turned her back to him, not liking the sarcastic tone in Ben's voice. She was upset that he clearly didn't believe her description of the guy that saved her. She heard Ben move his chair back and he then stood behind her.

"Mary, I'm sorry... I just... I hate what happened to you," Ben reached out to her. She quickly turned around and they hugged. He held her tightly and then Mary whispered something but he couldn't hear what she said.

"What's that?" he asked.

Mary pulled back and looked up at him, she repeated herself, "His eyes... they were gold."

" _Gold_?" Ben asked. _You've got to be fucking kidding me,_ he thought to himself.

"Yeah... I don't know, maybe they were contacts. Oh, and his hands..." Mary mentioned.

"What _about_ his hands?"

"The veins were bulging... and his nails - jeezus, you're really going to think I was imagining things." Mary looked away and shook her head, not wanting to go on.

"Just tell me. What about his nails?" Ben was curious of her answer.

Mary looked into his eyes and answered, "His nails... they looked more like... _claws_."


	17. Chapter 17

****A/N: Thank you again for continuing to enjoy this story with me and having fun with it! You guys are awesome! ****

 **PART 17**

As much as Ben would have liked to take the rest of the day off to spend with Mary, he knew he had way too much work to do on the Dimitri homicide. While driving back to the precinct, he thought about everything Mary had told him. Everything she gave, up until the description of the guy, was plausible and he was sure happened exactly as she stated. But if Mary was telling him the truth of what she saw then who, or _what_ , was this guy?

 _Claws._

She said his nails looked like claws and he had gold eyes. What were the odds this was the same guy that Mattie saw? Mattie didn't mention claw-like nails but there were thick scratch marks on one of the dead alley guys. _Is this the same guy? Could he be the one that left scratch marks on the tree outside my trailer?_ Ben shook his head at the last question he thought to himself. _No, no, that's impossible, why the hell would he be watching my place? Shit, what the hell am I thinking? Monstrous humans with gold colored eyes and claws?!_

"Jeezus, this is fucking ridiculous." Ben said outloud to himself as he parked his truck.

Right now he needed to figure out if there was a way to link Dimitri's pento to Cat's case without involving Mary. It would be premature of him to tell Cat right away that they found a dealer selling Pento because then her boss would want to know details. Unless he could convince her to keep it to herself until he could find more information and that he would promise to keep her in the loop. She's kept Mary out of her precinct's suspicion so far, and she's never given him any reason why he shouldn't trust her. That was one option, and so far, his only option to really get Mary in the clear. But he needed to think on it more.

He and Frank met back at their precinct and continued going through the list of known acquaintances of Dimitri. Unfortunately, Dimitri didn't have any family in the area and the closest known relative of his was on the West Coast and hadn't spoken to Dimitri in years. As Ben was looking at some photos of the crime scene, a file still sitting on his desk caught his attention. It was the file of the dead soldier, Vincent Keller. Ben pulled it out from under the pile of papers, sat back in his chair, and opened it. He never really read the entirety of it since the guy was dead but he decided to read more of Vincent's background history that they had access to. Before enlisting in the military, he was a resident doctor at one of the local hospitals, but not the same hospital that Mary currently worked at. He had two brothers that died on 9/11. Shortly after that happened, Vincent enlisted. It appeared his parents had recently passed on. One of Vincent's deceased brothers left behind a wife and son but Ben saw no reason to reach out to them at this time. Ben flipped through the file and came to the photograph of Vincent. It really was uncanny how much they looked like each other. _What was your partial print doing at one of my crime scenes, Specialist Keller?_ Ben thought to himself. He closed the file and put it in his desk drawer, he decided to do more research on this guy when he got home.

* * *

"Catherine, that time you and Tess first came to the warehouse... exactly how did you and Tess find out about JT?" Vincent asked as Catherine flipped through the news channels hoping to find something on Dimitri.

"Ummm... well, we went to the hospital that you had last worked at before you joined the Army. We asked around and found a nurse who remembered you. She mentioned you had a roommate and that's how we found out about JT. Why?"

"And how did my name come up in your initial investigation back then anyway?" he asked instead of answering her question.

"Because we found your finger print on the vic's button - " suddenly Catherine looked down, remembering something, then looked back up to Vincent.

"What is it?" Vincent was suddenly concerned.

"Ben... I remember he told me that they found a partial print on one of the dead guys from the alley..."

"And?" Vincent asked but not liking where it was heading.

"... Vincent, oh gawd, I can't believe I never told you... they matched the partial to you. He knew your name," Catherine slumped back in her chair realizing her mistake in not telling Vincent that information when Ben first told her.

"Catherine, why didn't you tell me?" Vincent asked calmly.

"Because he wasn't going to follow through with it! He said it was of a dead guy and that since it was a partial, the search came up with the closest match. He was confident it was a mistake and that the real guy just didn't have his prints in the system. Vincent, I'm so sorry... Believe me, I wasn't trying to keep it from you, I swear... Ben really wasn't going to follow up with it," Catherine looked into his eyes, pleading for him to believe her.

"I believe you... I just..." Vincent sighed, "I just wish you would have told me."

"Vincent," Catherine reached out for his hand and he opened his hand to her, their fingers laced together as they held hands. "I promise you, I can fix this."

"And how do you propose to do that?" Vincent asked doubtful.

Catherine's brows furrowed as she thought about everything. She thought long and hard about what Ben knew so far about Vincent, which wasn't much. She thought about how she now knew that Mary was illegally purchasing Pento. She thought about the claw marks on the tree that Ben showed her, and how Mary saw Vincent in beast form. She needed to figure out a way to use what she knew in their favor.

"Catherine?" Vincent asked, waiting for her answer to his question.

She looked up and finally answered, "I'm gonna tell him."

"What?" Vincent asked, his brows furrowed. "Tell him _what_?"

"About you... I'm gonna tell him about you."

Vincent let go of her hand and stood up, rubbed his hands over his face, his fingers through his hair, then crossed his arms over his chest. He shook his head as he looked at Catherine, "That is _not_ a good idea."

Catherine stood up and walked over to him, looking up at him she said, "Just listen. At some point, he's going to connect the dots. It's better that I connect them for him. He won't turn you in, Vincent. I know he won't."

Vincent looked down at her, "Yeah? And how do you know that?"

"Because..." Catherine sighed, "Because I'm going to tell him that I know about Mary."

"You're gonna _bribe_ him?" Vincent shook his head thinking that was a horrible idea.

"No, I wouldn't do that to him. He's a good cop and he's a good guy, Vincent." Catherine stepped closer to Vincent, "I'm going to tell him that I'll help him and Mary... so that he can help us... so that he can help _you_."

She placed her hands on his waist. "I promise you, this will work. So please, don't change your mind about staying. Don't run off."

Vincent looked down into Catherine's pleading eyes and smiled softly.

"I'm not going anywhere," he opened his arms, "Come here."

Catherine stepped into his warm protective embrace and wrapped her arms around his waist.

* * *

After several hours of working the Dimitri case, Ben and Frank were done with the day and Ben was also anxious to leave work because he had to pick up Ivan, a dog he was fostering with the hopes of adopting, on the way home. Tomorrow Ben and Frank would try and look into the missing art pieces and hopefully they would be able to get a hit on some of them. Luckily, Dimitri kept an inventory of his artwork in one of the file cabinets they found in his basement. Ben knew he had to atleast find out who looted the place because they would also be suspected of homicide, and there was no way he was going to let them take the wrap for something he knew they didn't do. So if the homicide had to remain unsolved, atleast they could solve the theft.

Ben asked Mary to meet him at his place so they could talk some more about what happened last night. While waiting for her to arrive, he shared a quick steak dinner with Ivan and was now looking over the Vincent Keller file that he took home with him from his desk drawer at the precinct. There wasn't much else in the file that he hadn't already read but he wanted to make sure he didn't overlook any small details. About an hour later, Mary arrived and they hugged for a moment then sat down together. Ivan let out a hushed bark before allowing Mary to pat him on the head, then went back to lay down on his dog bed.

"Who's your new friend?" Mary asked smiling at Ivan.

"That big guy is Ivan," Ben smiled looking at his new fur friend. "I think a bear may have come around here recently. I'm hoping Ivan will alert me the next time the beast comes around."

"Good idea!" Mary laughed. Ben handed her a glass of Scotch. "Thanks."

"What is that?" Mary asked when Ben closed Vincent's file and put it away.

"Nothing really, just work stuff," Ben smiled and took a sip of his beer. "Anyway, how are you feeling? Are you okay?"

"I'm alright, thanks. I really can't stay very long though. The girls will be dropped off at home in a few hours."

"This won't take long. I just need to ask you a few more questions. Would that be alright?"

Mary nodded, "Sure." She took a sip from her glass.

"Did Des normally buy the Pento straight from Dimitiri? Do you know if there was ever any paper trail?"

"No... he usually went through a middle man... and as far as I know, there was never a paper trail. Burner phones were always used, it was cash only, and no real names exchanged, only aliases were used."

"Okay..." Ben nodded slowly, so far, so good. "Mary, I've got to tell you. I'm gonna reach out to Cat on this."

"Cat?"

"Detective Chandler."

"What for?"

"I'm gonna let her know that I'm working a homicide investigation on a dealer that sold Pento."

"Ben..." Mary shook her head, worried.

"I'll let her know that I'll keep her posted if I find anything else. It won't be a joint investigation. Trust me."

Mary took in a deep breath, still worried. "I don't know, Ben... Can you trust her? I mean, really?"

"Can I trust her?" Ben repeated her question as if he couldn't believe she even asked that, then he confidently nodded, "Absolutely. She's never given me a reason not to."

"Ben, how well do you know her?" Mary looked at him suspiciously. He noted her suspicious expression and shook his head then let out a breath as he thought, _Well enough to know that I could've fallen in love with her_.

"She's a pretty good friend," he answered. "Look, just trust me."

"Alright... fine..." Mary crossed her arms and sat back.

"Let me ask you this... what else do you know about Mr. Taylor? Do you know what he did for a living? I never asked Cat."

"Well..." Mary thought a moment, "I don't know much about his professional life. I only spoke with him about his illness and the service that I could provide. He told me that he and his wife often traveled internationally... but as far as his career before his last stages of his illness, he mentioned he was an art dealer."

"He was an art dealer?" Ben thought that was a very good coincidence.

"Yes, but not extremely expensive museum-type artwork, atleast as far as I know. He and his wife would buy things made in other countries such as sculptures, masks, tapestries, things like that and sell them... at probably blown up prices, I'm sure. But that's all I know."

"That's good enough, thanks." Ben took a swig of his beer.

"Ben, are you going to tell Detective Chandler about me? I mean, that I gave Mr. Taylor the Pento?" Mary needed to know.

"No, ofcourse not. I'm hoping she will think Mr. Taylor may have gotten it himself through Dimitri. If Mr. Taylor sold art, there's a chance he and Dimitri may have crossed paths several times. Dimitri had a lot of artwork stolen from his house. I still don't know who looted the place after I left."

"So you're betting on her making that connection? It's a little risky, don't you think?"

"It's all circumstantial, but it's worth a try," Ben shrugged. "I just need to indirectly pass that suggestion to her. That's all."

"Okay," Mary nodded slowly. "So... did that guy, the one that saved me and Des, were you able to find anything of him at Dimitri's?"

Ben shook his head, "Nope. No prints. No DNA."

"Ben," she sighed, "I know that my description of him sounded completely ridiculous, something out of a comic book even. But I know what I saw." She looked into his eyes, "And I can't blame you if you don't believe me... but I'm telling you, I know what I saw. He looked right at me."

"Mary, as difficult as it is for me to believe you... I do... believe you. It's just..." Ben was at a loss of words and looked down at his beer, contemplating everything she's told him about the 'hero' stranger.

"I know... it's just that you can't imagine some kind of cross-species humanoid exists, right?" Mary finished for him, shaking her head.

Ben looked at her, "Wait - what did you just say?"

"What?" Mary asked confused.

"What did you just say?" he asked again.

"I said 'that you can't imagine a cross-species humanoid exists'. Why?" Mary asked.

Ben shook his head and smiled to himself in disbelief, sitting back in his chair.

"What is it?" Mary asked, smiling that Ben seemed to lighten up.

"It _was_ him," Ben chuckled rubbing his face with his hands, now realizing that the guy that saved Mary was the same guy that saved Mattie in the alley. The ME's lab was right about the cross-species DNA, they just didn't know it.

"What are you talking about?" Mary was completely confused. Ben smiled at her.

"I believe you, Mary. Just know that I believe you and I am definitely going to look into this guy more. I'll use whatever resources I need to," he said honestly, as strange as it was to admit some kind of creature man-beast was out there. He still wondered why the creature would be outside his trailer, if it was him. He definitely was going to find out who this guy - thing - was and where he came from. Right now though, he needed to get in touch with Cat. "Anyway, I need to get you in the clear once and for all out of Cat's case." He picked up his cell phone.

"Who are you calling?" she asked.

"Not calling... Texting. I'm asking Cat to meet up with me here." He sent his text.

"Well, I want to be here when she comes."

"It might be best if you're not here. I'm trying to clear your name, after all."

"Do you _not_ want me here?" Mary asked defensively.

"I didn't say that," Ben looked over at her, wondering why the sudden change. "Wait, do you think something is going on between me and Cat?"

Mary sighed and looked at him, her brows raised, then shrugged.

Ben shook his head, "Trust me, nothing is going on between her and me. You don't have to leave if you don't want to. I'm not worried about it."

"Good. I'll stay then."

* * *

It was an hour after Catherine received Ben's text asking her to meet him at his trailer when she finally arrived. It took awhile for her to leave the warehouse because Vincent insisted on coming with her and she had to convince him it would be better if he stayed behind. When Catherine pulled up, Ben's porch lights were on and she saw Ben and Mary standing next to each other outside, both smoking a cigarette. She killed her headlights so she wouldn't blind them. There was also a dog barking next to Ben as she parked. The dog stopped barking when she got out of her car and then ran up to her. Cat smiled at the dog and held her hand out slowly, he sniffed it then licked it. She gently patted his head then walked towards Ben and Mary, the dog walked next to her.

"Good evening, Dr. Harris," Cat smiled at Mary and she smiled back. Cat looked to Ben and smiled softly, "Ben, good to see you again."

Ben took in a deep breath at seeing her again and smiled back, "Good to see you, Cat. Thanks for coming over."

"Ofcourse," Cat nodded, then looked down at the big dog now obediently sitting next to Ben. "And who is this lovely guy?"

"This would be Ivan. He would be my bear alarm," Ben chuckled. Cat let out a little laugh then squatted down to pet Ivan again, gently scratching behind his ears.

"Hey there, buddy. Nice to meet you," she smiled sweetly then stood back up and looked at Ben. He was still smiling, not realizing he was staring at Cat. Mary took a drag from her cigarette.

"Ben, you didn't mention much in your text message," Cat started, breaking the unintended awkwardness. "Is there something I can help you with?"

Ben snapped out of it and let out a breath, "Uhh, yeah, well, actually no. I was thinking I could help you. With your case."

Cat stepped closer to the pair, "Really? How so?"

"There was a homicide this morning, Frank and I were assigned to the case," Ben began. "Turns out one of the vics was a drug dealer. We found Pentobarbitol in his house."

" _Really_?" Cat asked. She needed to find out about the homicide though. She needed to find out what Mary saw. "Do you have any leads on the case yet? Who he was dealing the Pento to?"

Ben shook his head, "No, not yet anyway. I just wanted to give you a head's up and let you know that I'll definitely keep you in the loop." Mary nervously took a drag from her cigarette and Ivan began a low growl but continued lying down.

"Okay, I really appreciate that," Cat replied but she still needed to find out more. "Was there anything else? I mean, witnesses or anything else?"

"There were pieces of artwork missing among other things taken from the house," Ben hated to have to do this but he lied and said, "but no witnesses at this time."

Ivan lifted his head and his growl became a little louder. Ben looked down at him and said, "Hush."

"Artwork was stolen?" Cat asked. _Someone else must have come onto the crime scene later that night after Vincent, Mary and Des all left,_ she thought.

"Yeah," Ben answered looking at Cat. _Thank goodness she caught that._

"Mr. Taylor had an art dealership," Cat mentioned. "I'll look into his records and see if they ever had any business dealings together."

"Yeah, that's a good idea," Ben smiled. "And I'll let you know if my partner and I hear anything else. The dealer had a laundry list of enemies, so it may take awhile before I get back to you." Mary put her cigarette out hoping this was the end of their visit with the beautiful detective.

It was clear to Catherine that Ben wasn't going to tell her about Mary and her friend being there, and she was under the impression that Mary didn't have any intention of exposing Vincent, most probably because he saved her. But that didn't mean Ben wasn't going to investigate on who the anonymous guy was, and that worried her. She would have to think of how to approach Ben, like she had told Vincent she would earlier, but it wasn't going to be tonight.

"I understand," Cat looked up at Ben and smiled back at him. "Thanks for the information."

Content with the information he gave, she was ready to bid the couple a goodnight and leave. Suddenly, Ivan growled louder and began barking aggressively. He lunged past Catherine and ran off, disappearing into the deep darkness of the woods.

"IVAN!" Ben yelled out, he immediately pulled his gun out concerned that the bear had come back. Instinctively, Catherine pulled her gun out, too.

Neither Ben, Mary, nor Catherine moved from where they stood. Mary stayed close to the trailer door. Ben and Catherine faced towards the woods, their guns drawn. They could hear Ivan barking in the distance then just as quickly, the barking stopped. All they could hear now were the sounds of crickets and the usual night sounds. Each of them remained silent, their breaths steady.

"IVAN!" Ben yelled out again then whistled loudly.

They could hear branches snap and suddenly Ivan padded out of the woods then stopped and looked behind him, his tail wagging.

"Come here, boy!" Ben commanded, his gun still drawn towards the woods.

Catherine saw it first, then Ben and Mary. Catherine immediately holstered her gun.

"BEN!" Catherine yelled, "STAND DOWN!"

The flash of gold eyes from something standing atleast 6 feet tall shown out of the edgeline of the trees.

"What the FUCK?!" Ben said loudly and raised his gun.


	18. Chapter 18

**PART 18**

Ben's heart was racing, he gripped his gun tighter, his finger on the trigger.

"BEN! PLEASE!" Catherine immediately faced Ben, her hands up in front of her.

"CAT, MOVE OUT OF THE WAY!" Ben demanded, his eyes wide trying to get the target back in the line of sight but the flash of gold was gone.

"BEN, DON'T SHOOT! IT'S HIM!" Mary yelled out and ran up to Ben but kept her distance.

"WHAT?!" Ben kept his eyes towards the woods, "HIM?!"

Cat spoke loudly but calm, "Ben, please..." she kept her eyes on him and stepped in front of him. She could see the fear in his eyes. She walked slowly up to Ben and placed her hands gently over his, he looked at Cat, complete bewilderment shown in his eyes. He looked down at her hands over his and he removed his finger from the trigger, then looked at Cat's face again, her eyes pleading with his, she spoke softly, "Please, Ben... holster your gun... he won't hurt us. But I need you to put your gun away... please."

Ben stared into Cat's eyes, his brows furrowed and jaw clenched, he slowly lowered his gun, then holstered his weapon. Mary then moved in closer and held onto his arm. Cat smiled softly at him and while still looking at Ben, she called out to the figure in the woods.

"Vincent!"

The look in Ben's eyes was a mix of confusion and hurt, "Vincent..?" he muttered. Catherine felt a pang of guilt and turned away from his gaze to look towards the woods. Ben and Mary also looked towards the woods and waited for the figure to make himself known.

There was a sound of movement and twigs on the ground breaking as they were walked upon. Ivan let out a friendly bark, his tail wagged faster, and a dark human figure stepped out from the woods but remained hidden in the darkness. The figure leaned down and patted the side of Ivan, then Ivan ran back to the trailer and sat on the porch.

"Just wait here," Cat said to Ben and Mary. They watched silently as Catherine walked confidently towards the figure.

"She _knows_ him?" Mary whispered in shock, she let go of Ben's arm.

"Apparently so," Ben answered, he crossed his arms over his chest. He couldn't believe that Cat never told him. It was clear that Cat was talking to the figure and she was clearly no stranger to him. Ben strained his eyes trying to see them. _Are they... arguing?_

* * *

"Vincent, what the _hell_ are you doing here?! I told you to wait for me at your place!" Catherine didn't hide the fact that she was pissed off at him for not staying at the warehouse.

"I wanted to make sure you were okay," he shrugged.

"Ofcourse I would be okay! I was only meeting with Ben and Mary, not a pair of psycopaths!" she shook her head, still fuming with irritation. "I was hoping I wouldn't actually have to tell Ben about you but now they _both_ know you exist!"

"I'm sorry," Vincent felt bad. He continued, his voice calm, "I tried to keep a safe distance away but how was I supposed to know he has a dog? At least I didn't hurt him - Ivan, right? He likes me." Vincent grinned.

"Really, Vincent? It's not funny," Catherine shook her head, upset. "Ben could've shot you. I could've shot you!"

"But he didn't. And you don't shoot blindly into the dark," Vincent sighed. "Catherine, I'm sorry, okay? I'll leave now, if you want me to."

"No... I don't want you to," Catherine looked at him, she knew he meant well. "But now that you're already here and they've seen you... this changes everything. Mary knows that was you she saw last night. That will mean Ben knows you were there. He probably suspects that you told me about the Pento, too. This changes everything. No more games so you might as well meet them."

"What?" he asked, surprised. "I don't know if that's a good idea."

"Vincent, they already know about you," Catherine rolled her eyes. "Besides, I want to show them that you're not a monster. You're a man."

Vincent smiled softly then answered, "Okay."

* * *

"Mary, if he was the one you saw last night. That means he must have told Cat about you and Des," Ben figured. _Shit._

"Why didn't she say anything to you then? Why the charade as if she didn't know?" she asked now worried.

"I don't know. She must have her reasons."

"Is she going to turn me in?" Mary asked nervously.

"No. She doesn't have anything on you... but him." Ben looked at Mary. "And something tells me this guy isn't trying to walk into a precinct and make a statement especially since he killed two guys last night. And if he looks like what you described to me, I doubt he wants anyone to see him."

Ben and Mary continued watching and waiting until finally it appeared that Cat was walking back towards them, the figure slowly following behind her but he stopped right where the light from the porch would expose him. Cat continued walking and now stood in front of Ben and Mary.

"I need to tell you both a few things before you meet him," Cat told the pair. Ben and Mary nodded and listened carefully.

"His name is - "

"Vincent Keller," Ben finished for her. Cat looked up at him, guilt in her eyes and nodded.

"Ben, I'm sorry that I didn't tell you. But, please let me explain?" Cat asked softly and waited for his response. Mary remained silent and just listened. Ben nodded.

Cat continued, "Vincent was part of a military experiment while he was stationed in Afghanistan over ten years ago. It was spearheaded by a company called Muirfield. He and the soldiers in their unit... they didn't know what they were really getting themselves into. They thought they were being given some types of steroids or something that would enhance their human capabilities. They were actually being experimented on with cross-species DNA that eventually turned each of them into something beast-like. So the experiment failed and his entire unit was killed... except for Vincent. He escaped... and he's been in hiding ever since."

As Cat told them, both Ben and Mary had expressions of horror and disgust that the soldiers would be used like that, and pity for what they went through and that they were eventually executed because of it.

"And that's why you kept him a secret, that's why you couldn't tell me," Ben completely understood now.

Cat nodded, "Officially, he's dead. Killed in Afghanistan. But they're still looking for him and they won't stop until they find him... and kill him."

Ben and Mary both shook their heads at the gravity of Vincent's situation, they both found it horribly unfair and unfortunate for him to have to live a life in hiding all these years.

"Can we meet him?" Mary asked sincerely.

"Yes," Catherine's expression was cautious, "But I have to reiterate that no one - absolutely _no one_ , can know that he is alive. Muirfield watches everything... and they're waiting for a sign of him to show up. Can I... no..." Cat paused and corrected herself, " Can _WE_ trust you both to keep his secret?"

Ben and Mary both nodded their heads and answered, "Ofcourse."

"Okay then," Cat said softly then turned around.

Catherine, Ben, and Mary were all facing Vincent as he stood waiting in the darkness several many feet away. Catherine breathed in then called out to him.

"Vincent, it's okay... they understand."

Mary stood closer to Ben and held onto his arm. Ben took in a deep breath then exhaled. Both unsure of what they would be coming face-to-face with and both nervous as hell. Mary was remembering the beastly face she saw last night. Ben was bracing himself to see a monster.

Vincent slowly advanced forward, stepping out from the safety of the shadows, the reach of the dim light coming from the porch exposing more of him with each step he took. As he cautiously entered into more of the light, they could now clearly see his boots, his jeans, his hands were hidden in his jacket pockets. He stepped closer and the light moved up his torso and his shoulders. One more step and they would able to see this man that had been experimented on and turned into a beast. Ben and Mary both seemed to hold their breaths as Vincent took his final step out of the shadows and into the light. His head was bowed down and when he looked up, Mary gasped and Ben's eyes widened.

What stood before them was no beast.


	19. Chapter 19

**** A/N: So sorry for the long delay, been working a lot of overtime at work and it was mentally draining. I'm working on the last chapter now ;)**

 **PART 19  
**

Mary was expecting to see the same frightening veined face that she remembered from last night. Ben was expecting to see some kind of humanoid beast creature. But what they saw instead, standing several feet before them, was every bit of a human man, as any man, whose only odd thing about him was the long, deep, and jagged scar that ran almost completely down one side of his face.

"He's..." Mary started to say, still completely surprised.

"Human." Ben finished for her just as shocked as she was.

Mary looked at Ben then back at Vincent. She whispered quietly, "He kind of looks a lot like you..."

 _You look just like him,_ Catherine's words echoed in his mind.

"Yeah..." Ben nodded as he stared at Vincent. "Maybe just a little."

Vincent had a calm expression on his face as he walked towards the trio. He was almost close to them when he suddenly stopped in his tracks and looked towards the main road in the far distance.

"Vincent," Catherine called out, "What is it?"

Vincent looked back at Catherine, Ben, and Mary. His expression turned to caution and his eyes glowed.

"I have to go," was all he said. Immediately, Vincent turned his back to them and blurred away into the woods. Ivan let out a friendly bark and howled loudly.

"VINCENT!" Catherine yelled out.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" Ben said loudly, not believing what he just saw.

"Cat, what happened?!" Mary asked, also not understanding what just happened.

Catherine put her hands up not knowing why Vincent fled but the answer came soon enough when the small specks of headlights from a vehicle far away appeared as it turned onto the dirt road leading towards Ben's trailer.

"It's because you have company coming," Cat told Ben and Mary.

"Jeezus," Ben rubbed his face with his hands, "I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes... how the hell did he do that? Move so fast like that?"

"What other abilities does he have?" Mary was curious. Cat had her eyes on the vehicle that was approaching and coming closer.

"He can see in the dark... he can hear things we can't... his sense of smell is crazy strong... but," Cat looked at Ben and Mary, "I really have to go now. Please don't talk about Vincent to anyone. Forget you even know about him. Please."

"You can trust us. We'll keep his secret safe," Ben answered for both of them. Mary nodded.

Cat smiled and began to walk to her car.

"Wait!" Ben called out to Cat.

She turned around and Ben ran into to his trailer. Mary shrugged her shoulders not knowing what he was doing. A few seconds later, Ben ran back out and went to Catherine.

"Here, take this."

He handed her a file.

"What is this?" Cat asked.

"It's Vincent's file from my work. It's safer in your hands. Do what you want with it. He's not on our radar at my precinct and I'll make sure it stays that way." Ben looked into Cat's eyes, his honesty apparent.

"Thank you, Ben. I really appreciate that. I'll be in touch with you tomorrow," Cat smiled. "And hey, Mary won't be in my precinct's radar either. I promise."

"Thank you," he smiled back and closed her door for her after she sat in her car.

Ben and Mary watched as Catherine pulled out and Frank's vehicle parked.

"I'd better go, too." Mary smiled at Ben then kissed his cheek, "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Okay," he grinned at her and watched as she got in her car and began to drive away.

"Damn, man!" Frank laughed as he got out of his car holding a six-pack and carrying a plastic bag, "I just got here and already folks are leaving?!"

Ben laughed, "Man, you didn't even tell me you were coming by."

"Yeah, yeah. It's all good, I was in the area and thought I'd drop in and meet Ivan and bring him a little toy 'cos I know your ass probably didn't buy him shit to play with."

"Oh damn, you're right. I didn't," Ben chuckled. "Thanks, man! Come on in."

Ivan ran up and gave Frank a friendly bark then Frank patted his head and pulled out a braided rope tug toy out of the plastic bag he was carrying. He threw it at the porch for Ivan. Ivan happily ran after it. As they walked to his door, Ben glanced back at the darkness of the woods then shook his head, he took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, still trying to soak in everything he saw and learned tonight about Vincent.

* * *

JT was just about to walk out the door when Catherine arrived at the warehouse.

"JT, is Vincent here?"

"Yeah, he's in the shower. I'm about to head out, can you let him know I went to go see Sarah? He has a tendency to want to know where I'm at even though he never tells me where he goes."

Catherine laughed, "Yes, I will tell him!"

"Oh, Cat," JT turned around, "He told me that you and Ben are going to help each other out... thanks for that... for everything."

"No need to thank me, JT." Cat smiled, "Now go have fun with Sarah!"

JT winked and smiled, then turned to leave, "I'll lock up behind me! Don't wait up for me!"

"Okay!" Cat responded, laughing as she ran upstairs to the loft.

* * *

"You're not mad at me, are you?" Vincent spoke out over the sound of the shower running.

Even though Catherine didn't answer, he knew she was in the room with him because he could hear her heart beating. He rinsed the shampoo out of his hair and the soap from his body.

"Catherine," he spoke as he finished rinsing off, "I didn't want to be exposed to more people. I don't know who was in the vehicle but I knew it had to be a friend of his. Whoever it was, I could hear the music he was playing and he was singing along to it so I knew you weren't in any danger."

Still no response from her.

"Catherine? Are you mad at me?"

Again, no response from her. He really would have stayed but he couldn't risk another person finding out about him. He could hear Catherine's heart beat a little faster, he wondered if she _was_ mad and just giving him the silent treatment. _Fuck._ Vincent sighed and closed his eyes. He concentrated on the soothing heat and the massaging stream of water as it showered down onto the top of his head.

"Does it look like I'm mad?"

Vincent nearly jumped at the sound of Catherine's voice taking him completely by surprise. He immediately wiped the water from his face and opened his eyes, his jaw dropped. She was completely naked and standing in the shower with him.

"Do you _really_ think I'd be mad at you for that?" she took a step closer to him and placed her hands flat against his chest.

Speechless, Vincent slowly shook his head 'no'.

"What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?" she teased.

He gave her a sexy grin and nodded, then grabbed her by her waist and pulled her body against his, the shower now drenching her. Their open mouths met and he pushed his tongue deep into her mouth.

"Mmm..." she moaned as she wrapped her arms around his broad shoulders, she could feel his already stiff member pressing against her lower belly. Her body was already anxious and ready for him. Vincent's hands rubbed up and down Catherine's wet body, he groaned into her mouth and his strong arms easily lifted her petite body up. Catherine hooked her legs around him and she felt his thick hardness penetrate her very slick tight center as he lowered her body slowly onto him.

"Unhh... Vincent..." she moaned, her tongue licking the side of his neck before gently biting then kissing the top of his shoulder.

"Ohh Catherine..." he groaned against the side of her neck, "... you feel so goddamn good... " He pressed her back against the shower wall which gave him additional support as he made love to her, slowly thrusting his large thickness in and out of her.

"Yes, Vincent... yess..." she moaned, her hands grasping onto the muscles in his back. Vincent covered her wet mouth with his, their tongues danced together as their lower bodies bumped and grinded, the water from the shower massaging into their slick skin and the heat wrapped around them.

Vincent's thrusts were faster, harder, filling her completely each time, stretching her as he grew larger inside her. Catherine sucked on his delicious wet tongue, savoring him in her mouth, her tongue twisting around his with promises of what she would do to him later. He groaned into her mouth. She knew he was about to cum, she could tell in the way his body moved, the way he felt inside her, incredibly large and throbbing, his growing thickness rubbing sweet friction along every nerve inside her center pushing her closer and closer towards the brink of ecstasy.

"Unhh... yes... Vincent, yes..." she was right there, breathing fast, she sucked harder on his tongue. He pushed harder and harder, long, fast, powerful thrusts over and over and it happened. Her toes curled, her feet pointed, she moaned loudly as her climax took control of her body, she shook uncontrollably. Vincent groaned into her mouth and with one final incredible thrust, he reached his own climax at the same time, shooting his seed into her as her tight center quivered violently around his thick shaft

Their breathing heavy, they shared a tender kiss, their foreheads pressed against each other.

"Jeezus, Catherine..." Vincent's eyes were closed as he spoke, "... the things you do to me..."

Catherine was out of breath but smiled. Her legs were too weak to stand on her own at the moment so Vincent held her up in his strong embrace. They stood quietly together, holding each other, both feeling complete bliss as the shower washed over them and the steam surrounded them.

* * *

"So, you're telling me... what, exactly?" Tess questioned Cat as they sat down at their desks.

"I think Mr. Taylor may have bought the Pento himself through an associate that he's had past dealings with," Catherine suggested, "but we'll need to look into it further, ofcourse."

"How did you find out about this? We've gone through nearly all of his associates," Tess was baffled.

"I have a friend in a neighboring precinct. He told me that they recently worked a homicide and the vic was a drug dealer," Cat was really hoping Tess would find this suggestion credible.

"Cat," Tess leaned over her desk and whispered, "I don't think Joe will think too kindly on us telling him that his dead friend may have had dealings with a freaking _drug_ dealer! How are we supposed to tie Mr. Taylor in with that?!"

Cat took a deep breath then let it out and whispered back, "Look, the guy had batches of Pento in his house and apparently he was also an art collector of sorts..."

Tess's brows furrowed as she thought about it, "Okay well, then that _may_ be something worth looking into then since we both know that Mr. Taylor was an art dealer," she paused a moment the said, "Fine, let's look into this further together before we tell Joe anything. He's getting tired of hearing about leads that end up nowhere."

"I agree," Cat nodded and let out a quiet sigh of relief.

Catherine and Tess carefully combed through the list of clients that Mrs. Taylor provided to them. It didn't take long to find Dimitri's name and according to the copies of the handwritten ledger that Mr. Taylor kept to keep track of sold items, it appeared Dimitri made several purchases over the last year and always paid in cash. His most recent purchase was a month ago.

"Tess... I found it," Cat said and brought the pages to Tess.

"I see... so he did know Mr. Taylor," then Tess looked up at Cat, "But you know as well as I do that buying artwork doesn't prove he gave Mr. Taylor the Pento."

Cat sighed. "Yes, I know... but we really don't have anything else but assumptions."

"We need to take a look at Mr. Taylor's laptop. Maybe if he did some kind of search on end of life topics it may convince Joe and Mrs. Taylor that he at the very least had an interest in the subject," Tess suggested.

"Alright," Cat nodded. "Let's go."

* * *

Several hours later, Tess and Cat were finishing up their work for the day when the forensic IT Department called them down.

"So what did you guys find?" Tess asked the tech that was looking at their findings.

"Well, his internet history wasn't even cleaned out since last year so that was easy to check. We made an exact copy of Mr. Taylor's hard drive then scrutinized everything he had on it via the copy we made," the tech explained.

"Okay, so what came up?" Cat asked.

"We found documents and snippets of deleted documents which we printed all out for you," he handed Cat a thick pile of papers, "so you both can decide what is pertinent to your case. There were definitely online searches of Pento, though. Here's a printout of the complete list of his internet history that we found." He then handed Tess an even thicker pile of papers.

"Wow, thanks," Tess frowned.

"I told ya," the tech smirked, "he didn't clean out his online history since last year."

"Well, let us know if you find anything else," Cat smiled, then she and Tess left, grabbing a couple of empty binders on their way out.

Back at their desks after putting the loose pages into the binders, the detectives carefully looked through the pages given to them by the IT tech.

"I'm not seeing anything scathing from his internet history early on," Tess noted as she perused the pages. "Just a ton of artwork articles... artwork searches... online movies... online shopping… he logged onto his email quite often, which is understandable since he had a lot of clients..."

"Yeah... nothing scathing in here yet either," Cat shook her head as she flipped through the information obtained from his hard drive."

Tess stuck a post it note on the page she was looking at then closed the binder.

"What's wrong?" Cat asked.

"I'm tired... my eyes are tired," Tess sighed.

"Mine, too. Let's call it a day and start fresh again tomorrow," Cat suggested and stood up, picking the binder up from her desk.

"Sounds good to me," Tess yawned. "You gonna take work home with you?"

"Yeah, for some bedtime reading," Cat joked.

"You really are dedicated," Tess laughed, shaking her head at her friend. "See you tomorrow, Cat!"

* * *

"What's this?" Vincent asked when Catherine plopped the binder onto the table in front of him.

"Pages and pages of documents and deleted files that were on Mr. Taylor's hard drive," Catherine sighed taking a seat in front of Vincent.

"Ahhh... you need an extra pair of eyes to look over them," Vincent smirked.

"Yep," she nodded her head, "and guess who that lucky person would be?"

Vincent looked at Catherine and grinned, "Alright. You take half, I'll take the other."

"Thank you," Catherine smiled. She opened up the binder rings and carefully removed half of the pages out, then closed the rings and slid the binder back to Vincent.

Together they scoured page after page after page. Occasionally they would find something that would look interesting but not pertinent. A few hours later, a tired Catherine went to lie down on Vincent's bed while he sat at the table looking over the more recent documents and deleted files. Then he found something interesting in what appeared to be a draft of... _a suicide letter?_ Vincent thought to himself. He looked back towards Catherine to tell her but stopped himself when he saw that she had already fallen asleep. He smiled at the sight of her, curled up and sleeping soundly on his bed. He quietly got up from the table and went to her, gently he pulled the comforter over her, then he leaned over and kissed her cheek. She stirred a bit.

"Vincent... I love you," she muttered in her sleep.

He smiled then kissed her forehead and whispered, "I love you, too... so much."

He went back to the table and looked over the last page he read. It was definitely helpful so he stuck a post-it note on it. Then he moved onto to the next page, determined to find something more to help Catherine and Tess close their case and hopefully find nothing on Mary. He would stay up all night until he was done.

* * *

Catherine woke up early the next morning and stretched lazily before realizing that Vincent wasn't next to her in bed. When she got up, she saw that he was still sitting at the table looking through the binder.

"Vincent, oh my god, did you stay up all night?!"

He turned around and smiled, "Hey, good morning."

"You didn't have to stay up to do this!" she looked up at him as he stood and faced her. She wrapped her arms around him and closed her eyes, the side of her face resting against his chest. He held her close and she felt him place a kiss on the top of her head.

"Yeah, well... I found a couple of things but not much else... I looked over your half, too," his voice was raspier than usual. She could tell that he was tired.

"You didn't have to do that..." she held him tighter wishing she could crawl back into bed and stay with him all day.

"I wanted to… besides," he looked down at her and she opened her eyes as she looked up at him. He continued, "I'd do anything - and everything, for you."

"You're the best," she smiled and he gave her a tender peck on her lips. "So what did you find for me?"

Vincent let go of Catherine and opened up to one of the pages he flagged, "I stuck a few post-it notes on the pages I thought were relevant, like this one."

He stepped back and Catherine leaned in to read it.

"Vincent... is this what I think it is?" she asked, keeping her eyes on the document she was reading.

"Yep, I think so. You should show it to Tess and Joe. Maybe this is the beginning of the end of your case."

"I will, thanks," she looked up at Vincent again and smiled. "Go get some rest now. I'm sorry I can't stay with you. I really wish I could."

"Yeah... me, too," he yawned.

Catherine stood on the tips of her toes and kissed his lips, "Sweet dreams, handsome."

Vincent grinned and gave Catherine's bottom a light pat when she turned around and picked up the binder. Catherine glanced back at him and winked, then she was out the door.

* * *

After going home to take a quick shower and change, Catherine was back at the precinct looking over the sections that Vincent stuck post-it notes in.

"Good morning, partner," Tess arrived shortly and sat down at her desk.

"Good morning," Cat smiled. "Guess what?"

"You found something to close our case?" Tess grinned, hopeful.

"Maybe, just maybe. Here, take a look." Cat handed Tess the binder.

Tess looked down at the highlighted sections, "Cat... is this what I think it is?"

"Yep, looks like it," Cat nodded.

"Then we need to show Joe. Like now," Tess looked up at Cat and she agreed.

The two detectives knocked on Joe's open office door. He had just hung up his desk phone.

"Joe, you got a minute?" Tess asked. Cat was next to her, holding the binder.

He looked up and nodded, "Sure, come on in."

"We need you to take a look at this," Cat handed him the binder, it was opened up to the page that Tess had just read.

Joe read it, let out a long sigh, then closed the binder. He looked up at the two detectives.

"Ladies, you're off the case."

"What?" both Tess and Cat asked at the same time.

"I just spoke with Mrs. Taylor. What you're showing me is pretty much the unfinished draft of a letter she found that her husband wrote," Joe sighed again and sat back in his chair.

"So... it _was_ a suicide?" Tess asked. Joe nodded.

"I'm sorry, Joe," Cat said quietly. Both detectives knew that their boss was upset to find out his friend decided to end his life.

"Joe... we still don't know where he got the Pento from, we can still investigate that," Tess offered. Cat had to hide her objection to that suggestion.

"No," Joe said flatly and shook his head, "Mrs. Taylor just wants to put this all behind her. She's a friend of mine, too, and I don't want to put her through anymore than what's she's already gone through. This case is closed. I don't want anymore manpower on this. Move onto your next case, detectives."

She and Tess both nodded their heads and left Joe's office to leave him alone. Secretly, Cat was more than relieved to hear Joe tell them that because this meant she could tell Ben that Mary was in the clear. Now she needed to find out what was going on with Ben's case and if Vincent was also in the clear.

* * *

Ben and Frank got a very lucky break in their case when the thieves who looted Dimitri's tried selling some of the artwork they stole. It was a trio consisting of two men and one women who had gone to Dimitri's after an all night party and stumbled across the dead bodies. Lucky for the trio, they had solid alibi's both before the killings and after along with multiple witnesses who could confirm their alibis. Plus according to the ME, the approximate time of deaths were way before the trio had come across the bodies. Though they weren't being charged for the homicide, they were still getting charged for theft.

Ben was more relieved than the thieves that they were able to produce solid alibis. But now, Frank was still focused on finding out who killed Dimitri and Ben had to act like he was just as determined even though he just wanted to move onto the next case.

"I don't know, man..." Frank tossed a file onto his desk and sat back in his chair. "This just feels like his competition might have done him in."

"It's possible," Ben nodded, looking at his partner.

"They did a pretty damn good job of leaving nothing behind... damn." Frank shook his head.

"Yeah, well. It wouldn't be the first case like that," Ben sighed.

"Those three stooges that robbed Dimitri's place didn't see a damn thing since they got to his house much later," Frank looked over his notes.

"Yep... I say we take a closer look at some of his competition. That's our best bet," Ben suggested. Frank nodded in agreement.

"Well, you're going to have to hold off on that, guys."

Ben and Frank looked up and saw their Captain standing at their desks.

"Why? What's going on?" Ben asked for the both of them.

"This isn't our case anymore," their boss answered. "You both are off the case effective immediately."

"What?!" Frank stood up.

"Captain, what are you talking about?!" Ben was just as confused but even more concerned because of the fact that he was trying to hide Mary and Vincent.

"Look guys," their boss spoke calmly, "All I know is that the FBI were already working a case involving Dimitri and another syndicate. If we continue with our investigation, it could put the lives of their undercover agents in jeopardy."

Frank sat down and shook his head in disbelief. Ben understood the implications and nodded.

"So, guys," their captain continued, "I'd appreciate if you'd box up whatever files you've got so far on this case and bring it to my office. I'll hand it over to the agent that comes this afternoon."

"We don't have much, but yeah, we will," Ben responded.

"Alright, good. One more thing," their boss continued, "I know this sucks but at the end of the day, we all want to catch the bad guys. We know Dimitri was no angel, but it looks like he was in the works of getting in good with some very high profile crime lords beyond our borders. Dimitri wanted in with them. Guys that were into drug smuggling, sex trafficking, murder, you name it and they were into it. I'm sure you guys understand the huge risk their undercovers are taking so if the Feds need us to drop our investigation of Dimitri and let them take over, then hell yeah, they can have it."

The detectives both nodded. Their boss smiled and turned to leave their desks but Frank stopped him.

"Hey captain!" Frank spoke out and their boss turned around, his brows raised in question.

"What 's up?"

"What's the name of the FBI agent that's coming? Just so we know in case the agent comes by early and you're not around," Frank asked. Ben nodded in agreement.

Their captain nodded back, "Good thinking. His name is Reynolds. Agent Bob Reynolds."


	20. Chapter 20

**** A/N:** **Wow! Been awhile but thank you for your interest in this story. So friends, here is another chapter for you! REMINDER: THIS IS RATED M FOR MATURE AUDIENCES ONLY ****

 **PART 20**

The day was spent doing a bunch of paperwork and Catherine was at her desk finishing up a closing report to put in Mr. Taylor's case file when she received a text message on her cellphone. It was from Ben asking if she could meet up with him later regarding a development in his case and that it wouldn't take long, just a few minutes of her time. She texted him back that she could meet with him in the evening on her way to having dinner with her sister Heather, their Dad, and his wife. She nearly forgot about the dinner date until Heather texted and called her several times.

"Are you finished with that?" Tess asked Cat as she stood up and stretched. "Joe said we could cut out of here a couple hours early if we wanted to... and, well, it happens to be a couple of hours til happy hour."

"Oooh, I'd love to join you! But," Cat sighed, " I have a dinner date with the family."

"Fun," Tess frowned sarcastically. "But you'll be missing out!"

"Maybe I'll drop in on you guys afterwards. Dinner shouldn't be too long," Cat smiled.

"Alright, sounds like a plan then," Tess smiled back.

* * *

It was mid-afternoon when Catherine left the precinct and made her way to the warehouse to see Vincent. JT was still at the university teaching his classes when she arrived. Catherine quietly walked upstairs into Vincent's loft and found him lying on his back, still asleep in his bed.

 _Hmmm... I could use a quick afternoon nap._

She took her shoes off and slipped into bed next to Vincent.

"Mmm... hey there," Vincent mumbled with a grin.

"I'm sorry if I woke you," she whispered, resting her head on his chest and draping her arm over his torso.

"Don't worry, I'm still sleepy," he placed a kiss on the top of her head then laid his head back down onto the pillow. "You finished early today?"

"Mmm, hmmm..." Catherine nodded and snuggled closer to him, her eyes closed. "I wanted to come see you before I have dinner tonight with Heather, my Dad and his wife. I wish you could join me."

"I wish I could, too," Vincent smiled and held her close.

"But I could definitely use a nice power nap," Catherine yawned quietly and draped her leg over his.

"Go for it... I'm not going anywhere." Vincent closed his eyes, a soft smile on his face. It wasn't long before both he and Catherine drifted off into sleep.

* * *

"Cat! How could you forget about the reception?! I told you, like, a month ago," Heather sighed as they all spoke over dinner.

Catherine couldn't believe it herself either. She was so busy with work and her investigation along with worrying about Ben's investigation that she completely forgot about the reception party that her father's firm was throwing for the new partner of his firm.

"Dad, I completely forgot. But yes, I promise that I will be there," Catherine nodded assuringly to her father.

"Good, and neither of you have to stay for the entire evening of it but it would mean a lot to me if you are atleast present for some of it," Thomas Chandler smiled at his daughters.

"Besides, this party is going to be laid back. No need for ballroom gowns. A simple cocktail dress will be perfect! The entire firm will be there - from partners, associates, to staffers - all employees and their plus ones," Brooke, Mr. Chandler's wife, was hoping to entice Catherine and Heather that it would be worth staying the entire evening so she added, " And there will be great food and plenty of mingling and dancing!"

"Oooh, sounds much more fun than the usual stuffy functions," Heather giggled, "no offense, Dad."

Thomas smiled at his youngest daughter, "None taken."

"I do enjoy the gala charity events though!" Catherine smiled not wanting her father to think she dreaded all of his firm's functions.

"It's settled then. I will be looking forward to seeing you both there, and please don't hesitate on bringing a date," Thomas looked at Catherine when he said that last part.

Catherine just smiled and nodded. _Great._

* * *

"Why couldn't you just tell her over the phone?" Mary asked Ben as they sat in his trailer waiting for Cat to arrive.

"The same reason I don't talk about your secret over the phone. It's too risky," Ben shook his head, slightly irritated.

"That's fine, I get it. I was just wondering," Mary sighed and took a sip of her drink.

"Okay," Ben walked over to Mary and leaned against the counter, looking at her. "What is it? What's on your mind?"

"Nothing," Mary looked up at him and smiled. She didn't want to admit to him that she felt an odd jealousy towards Cat. "I guess I'm just anxious to get past all of this, you know? I'm anxious to have Cat close her case on Mr. Taylor… and I'm still in shock about Vincent… Jeez… I still can't believe it…"

"Yeah… I really feel for the guy," Ben agreed and looked down at his drink then added, "Cat seems to be the only ray of light in his life right now."

"He really does love her, doesn't he?" Mary suddenly felt ridiculous to have any feelings of jealousy towards Cat. After all, Cat gave her no reason to make her feel that way. Plus, Mary was an accomplished doctor successful in her own field just as Cat was successful as a detective.

"Yep, I wouldn't doubt it... and Cat loves him," Ben looked at Mary, suspicious of her feelings towards Cat. "So whatever it is you might have been thinking about her, just remember that she's trying to help you, too... and she's taking a big risk. We both are... for you, and for Vincent."

Mary looked into Ben's eyes and knew that it didn't take him being a detective to figure out how she was feeling.

"I guess you think you know me pretty well," Mary smirked and stepped closer to him.

"I do," Ben grinned and looked down at her low-cut blouse then back into her eyes.

They were about to kiss when Ivan started barking then whining as he scratched at the door.

"I'd better let him out, I'll be right back," Ben told Mary, she nodded in response.

Ben stepped outside and Ivan quickly ran to find a spot to relieve himself. Just then, Cat pulled up and parked. Mary was watching from the window inside.

"Hey, how's it going?" Ben asked as he walked up to Cat when she got out of her car. She was wearing a black cap sleeve fitted bodice dress and heels. She had just a hint of makeup, but never really needed any at all, and her hair was down, the ends very gently curled. He couldn't help but notice how beautiful she looked. _Wow,_ Ben thought, _stunning as always._

"Another fancy restaurant date with your family?" he joked remembering the first time he had seen her in a dress. Cat laughed and nodded.

"Ben, I'm so sorry I wasn't able to meet with you sooner," Cat apologized again. She had already sent him a text earlier letting him know that she would have to meet him after her dinner with family, instead of before. "I took a nap with Vincent after work and overslept. If he hadn't woken me up, I probably would have missed dinner, too!"

 _Lucky bastard,_ Ben thought to himself but smiled and said, "Not a problem at all. How is Vincent anyway?"

"He's doing well... considering his circumstances," Cat smiled back. Ivan ran up to Cat and she leaned down to scratch behind his ears, then kissed his forehead.

"Ivan, you big flirt, get back inside," Ben patted Ivan's side and the obedient pup ran to the front porch. "Cat, do you have a few minutes to come inside? Mary's here as well."

"Ofcourse," Cat nodded, "that way I can tell you both about my case. She'll be glad to hear the good news."

Ben and Cat walked together to the front door. Mary quickly went back to sit at the counter near her drink.

"Hi Mary," Cat smiled as soon as she stepped inside Ben's trailer.

"Hi Cat," Mary smiled back at the gorgeous detective, "would you like something to drink?"

"No, thank you. I really can't stay long anyway but I'm so glad you're here. I've got great news for you," Cat walked closer to Mary and Ben stood next to her.

"Mr. Taylor's case is officially closed," Cat didn't beat around the bush and just let them know straight away.

"What?" Mary raised her eyebrows in disbelief but was glad to hear the good news.

"What happened?" Ben asked wanting more details.

"His wife found a letter penned from Mr. Taylor himself," Cat answered, feeling sympathetic towards Mrs. Taylor having to go through that. "And as far as who he received the Pento from, well, my boss doesn't feel the need to pursue it any longer. Besides, there really are no concrete leads pointing us in any direction of where he could have gotten it. For all we know, he could have bought it overseas somewhere and brought it back with him to the States himself."

"Wow... that's a really huge relief," Mary looked to Catherine, "Thank you so much."

Cat nodded, "No need to thank me. We really didn't have anything physical tying you to him. So unless you want to give me a confession... case closed."

Mary couldn't tell if Cat was joking or being serious but she smiled anyway.

"I wish I could say the same about my case," Ben looked at Cat, hating to have to give her the bad news. "But, it's still an open investigation. It's just not in my jurisdiction anymore."

"What?" Cat's brows furrowed, her face full of concern, "What do you mean?"

"The FBI took over my case. Apparently they have a few undercover agents working a syndicate that Dimitri was involved in and... well, they didn't want our investigation hampering or somehow exposing any of their undercovers," Ben's heart sank for Cat, to see complete worry wash over her beautiful face.

"When did this happen?" Cat asked, still in a bit of a shock.

"My boss told me and Frank today. He met with an FBI agent earlier this afternoon, an agent named... uh... what was his name... ahh yeah, Reynolds. Bob Reynolds. My boss handed over all the work Frank and I had done on the case to him." Ben let out a breath of defeat, "I'm sorry, Cat... I really am."

Cat looked down for a moment, then back up at Ben, "Thank you... I know you tried everything that you could do... and I appreciate that."

Ben stared into Cat's eyes wishing there was something more that he could do for her and for Vincent. As if she read his mind, she smiled softly at him then nodded slowly and lightly touched his arm for a brief second, "I'll see you around."

Ben clenched his jaw, a sad smile on his face. He nodded and said, "Okay."

Cat turned to Mary and smiled at her as well, "Take care, Dr. Harris."

"You as well, Detective," Mary answered back, a somber smile on her face. She also felt bad for Cat and Vincent.

Cat looked at Ben once more and smiled then turned to leave, rubbing the back of Ivan's ears right before she walked out of Ben's trailer. Ben let out a sigh, then shook his head. _Shit,_ he thought and he ran out to catch up with Catherine.

"Ben!" Mary called out but he was already out the door. She ran to the window and watched as Ben caught up to Catherine, stopping her right before she was about to get into her car.

"Cat, wait!" Ben called out and ran up to her.

She turned around and her eyes were filled with tears.

"Cat, it's gonna be okay," he spoke gently. "I know it may not seem like that right now, but trust me... Everything will be okay. They won't find anything of Vincent, not even Mary and Des. Nothing will lead back to any of them."

She looked up to the sky to try and keep the tears from falling from her eyes, then took a deep breath and looked to Ben, "I don't know... I just don't know...Vincent never seems to get a break... and I try so hard to keep a strong face but I worry so much about what could happen to him."

"I know, Cat... but you _are_ strong and I have no doubt that no matter what happens, you and Vincent will make it through this... and whatever else may come your way," Ben tried to reassure her and his heart sank when a tear fell from her eye. He reached out and gently wiped it away with his thumb then immediately put his hand away thinking he over-stepped his boundary.

Cat smiled then surprised Ben by giving him a hug, "Thank you, Ben... thank you."

Ben hugged her back in a tight embrace and smiled, "Anytime."

They held each other for a few moments longer. Cat was thankful to have met Ben and she honestly knew that he would never betray her and Vincent. She was thankful for his friendship and she didn't regret the intimate moment they had shared in what seemed like a long time ago now. Ben would always have a special place in her heart.

Ben admitted to himself that he would always care deeply about Cat. He knew that if there ever came a time that she would need his help, he wouldn't hesitate to give her his all. He didn't have any regrets over the night they spent together and even though he knew they would never be an item, he was perfectly happy being her friend.

When they let go of each other, he was glad to see her expression was relaxed.

"If there's anything you need - anything at all - I'm here for you," Ben promised, his eyes full of sincerity.

"Okay," Cat nodded and she had no doubt of the truth in his promise. She leaned up and gave Ben a friendly kiss on his cheek. Ben looked down at her and smiled softly. Cat smiled gently back and said, "Thank you."

Mary watched as Ben hugged Catherine and the two held onto each other for what seemed like an eternity before finally letting go. After a few more words were exchanged, she saw Catherine get into her car and Ben just stood there watching as Cat drove away. Mary quickly went back to the counter and finished her drink, then lit a cigarette as Ben opened the door.

"Hey, hey now. No smoking inside. You know Ivan doesn't like the smell," Ben joked.

"Yeah, well, I was just about to leave anyway," Mary put her cigarette out and picked up her purse and keys.

Sensing her cold tone of voice, Ben stepped in front of her as she was about to leave, "Whoa... wait, what's going on with you?"

"Nothing, I just need to get home and be with my kids," Mary lied.

"Alright then. I'll see you tomorrow." Ben stepped aside but Mary didn't move. Ben let out a sigh. "Mary, talk to me. What is it?"

Without hesitation and with her arms crossed she asked, "Did you sleep with Cat?"

"What?!"

"You heard me."

Ben looked away and shook his head. He knew he couldn't tell Mary the truth about having a one night stand with Cat. He looked at Mary and said flat out, "No."

"Do you have feelings for her or something?" Mary needed to know.

 _For fuck sake, yes damnit, I do and I'm trying my damndest not to._

"No." Ben answered instead, irritation in his voice, "She's just a friend." Ofcourse he wasn't going to tell Mary the truth about his feelings for Catherine because he decided some time ago to put those aside and try to focus on having a relationship with Mary. "Anything else you want to ask me about Cat?"

"Am I a substitute?" she looked deep into his eyes.

He stared back into her eyes, "No. You're not."

"Alright then," Mary seemed satisfied, then tossed her purse and keys onto the table.

"I thought you had to go home to your kids?" Ben asked, confused.

"No, they're with their dad tonight... so," Mary stepped closer to Ben and placed her arms around his shoulders, "I guess we should have some make-up sex then."

Ben grinned, thankful to move on from the topic of Catherine, "I won't argue with that."

* * *

As soon as Catherine got home, she tossed her keys onto the side table next to her door then went up to the roof to get some air. She also asked Vincent to meet her up there. She couldn't stop worrying about him and what would happen if the FBI were able to somehow find out about him. But beyond her worry, she knew she had to tell Vincent that it was out of Ben's hands now.

"Hey, is everything okay?" the sound of Vincent's calm raspy voice was instant comfort to Catherine.

"Vincent," was all she said to him before holding onto him in a hug. She closed her eyes as he wrapped his arms around her, keeping her close to him.

"What is it? What's wrong?" his voice was covered with concern. Catherine held onto him a few moments longer then let go and stepped back to look at him. He had a gentle smile on his handsome face. Catherine decided not to beat around the bush and just tell him.

"Ben is no longer on your case. The FBI took over."

"What?" Vincent's smile quickly disappeared.

"Ben told me that the FBI was investigating a syndicate that Dimitri was getting in with... and because of the undercover agents they had in place, they couldn't risk a police investigation of Dimitri's death. So they took over the case. They are going to handle it in a way that won't compromise their undercovers."

"So basically, they're sweeping Dimitri's death under the rug?" Vincent let out a breath, his jaw clenched as he leaned against the railing. "That's not so bad. Right?"

"I guess if you want to look at it that way," Catherine frowned.

"You don't?"

"No, I don't... What if they dig in a little more? What if they find something of you that you left behind?"

"Catherine, don't worry. Ben said it himself, they didn't find anything of me - not even of Mary or Des at Dimitri's," Vincent tried to sound convincing. "It's going to be fine. Worse case scenario, if somehow they put me on their radar, then -"

"No," Catherine interrupted him, "Don't even think about leaving me behind."

Vincent let out a sigh, "Catherine, I would do anything and everything I have to in order to keep you safe. Even if it meant leaving you behind. I'm sorry... but that's the way it has to be."

Catherine shook her head.

"Hey, come here," Vincent gently pulled her into his arms and she held onto him, her head rested against his chest.

"I promise it won't ever come to that," he told her, placing a kiss on the top of her head, "I promise."

* * *

"Oh my god! I'm so glad we came!" Heather was completely excited about attending their Dad's event. The banquet hall was filled with attendees and the music from the band was upbeat and inviting. Although the expensive luxury hotel was not far from where Catherine and Heather lived in the city, Mr. Chandler made sure to get hotel rooms for each of his daughters in case neither of them wanted to make the drive back home late in the night.

"And OH MY GOD, Cat! You look FABULOUS!" Heather exclaimed.

Before Catherine could respond, Heather took off to the dance floor dragging her date along with her. Catherine looked affectionately at her vivacious sister and let out a giggle, then smoothed her hands down the sides of her hips as she wondered where the bar was. She was wearing a simple black strapless Maria Bianca Nero ruffle cocktail dress and black ankle strap high heels.

"Catherine!" Mr. Chandler called out as he walked up to his eldest daughter.

"Hi Dad! This is fantastic and very youthful, I might add," Catherine joked, greeting him with a huge smile and hug.

"Well, it is lively, isn't it?" he smiled and kissed her on her cheek, "I'm so glad that you made it. Where's your sister?"

"Over there with her date on the dance floor," Catherine nodded in the direction of where Heather and her date were dancing.

"Ahh, I should have known," he chuckled. "And... how about you? Did you bring a date?"

"No, Dad," she smiled and then joked, "I wasn't able to find a brave soul to accompany me tonight!"

Mr. Chandler smiled wide and shook his head, "I find that hard to believe!"

"Sorry, Dad," Catherine laughed, "But I do hope that the day will come when I get to introduce you to a special someone."

"I hope that day comes soon," her father smiled lovingly at her. "Catherine, there's someone that I'd like you to meet. Come with me."

She followed her Dad through the crowd and then they stopped at the bar where her Dad's wife, Brooke, was chatting with an older gentleman who looked to be about the same age as her Dad. Catherine and Brooke both greeted each other then Mr. Chandler turned to the gentleman Brook was chatting with.

"Catherine, I'd like you to meet Bob Reynolds," Mr. Chandler gestured to the gentleman then continued, "He was a friend of your mother. Bob, this is my eldest daughter, Catherine."

Catherine thought she heard his name before but couldn't place it right away. She shook his hand firmly and smiled, "Nice meeting you, Mr. Reynolds."

"Likewise," Mr. Reynolds replied and smiled.

"How did you know my mother," Catherine was curious.

"Oh... Well, she and I had worked together briefly once before. She had helped my team on a case we were working on."

"Your team? My mother was a doctor, are you a doctor as well?"

"Excuse me," Mr. Chandler kindly interrupted, "I'll have to leave you both for a moment while Brooke and I make a few rounds."

"Ofcourse. No problem, Dad," Catherine gave her Dad and Brooke a big smile.

"Thomas, I'll catch up with you later. Unfortunately, I won't be able to stay much longer but thank you for the invitation tonight," Bob shook Mr. Chandler's hand.

"Thank you for coming by, Bob. I'll certainly be in touch with you," Thomas smiled at Bob then nodded to Catherine, "I'll see you later, sweetheart."

Catherine gave her Dad a kiss on the cheek and watched as he and Brooke walked away. Then she turned back to Bob and said, "I'm sorry. Where was I? Oh, are you a doctor as well?"

"No, not at all," Bob took a sip of his drink, then replied, "Actually, I'm an FBI agent."

Suddenly Catherine remembered where she heard his name before and she heard Ben's voice in her head, _"He met with an FBI agent earlier this afternoon, an agent named... uh... what was his name... ahh yeah, Reynolds. Bob Reynolds."_

"Catherine? Are you okay?"

"I'm sorry, what?" Catherine broke out of her thoughts and focused on what Bob was saying. What were the odds that he would know her mother and that he is also the agent that Ben's boss handed over the case files to.

"I was saying that your father mentioned to me that you're in law enforcement. A detective, right?" Bob asked.

"Yes," Catherine nodded. "Yes, I am. With the Special Crimes Unit."

"That's impressive. You should come work for the Bureau. We could use more people like you in our department," Bob smiled.

"Well, I kind of like where I'm at right now," Catherine smiled back, "But I'll keep that in mind."

"I completely understand but if you ever change your mind, you let me know."

"I sure will," Catherine nodded.

"Well it was nice meeting you, Catherine," Bob held his hand out. "But I have to head out now."

"It was nice meeting you as well, Agent Reynolds," she shook his hand once more.

He smiled at Catherine once more before leaving. She watched as he walked away, then she ordered her first drink from the bartender.

* * *

A few hours later and after dozens of speeches, plenty of mingling, socializing, and lots of dancing, Catherine was back at the bar finishing her last of several drinks that she had throughout the night.

"Are you going to need a ride home, Miss Chandler?"

Catherine quickly turned around to the familiar calm raspy voice right behind her.

"Vincent?!" she whispered loudly, her eyes widened.

He stood confidently in his fitted black button down dress shirt and dark slacks, his hair was nicely combed back and a sexy grin shown across his very handsome face. By the looks on the ladies nearby, she wasn't the only one who noticed this tall, strong, extremely good looking man.

"What are you doing here?!" Catherine was shocked but excited to see him at the same time.

"I thought I'd surprise you," he continued grinning.

"Are you _kidding_ me?" Catherine wasn't amused. "There are tons of people here!"

Before Vincent could say anything, Catherine grabbed his hand and quickly led him out of the crowded banquet hall, through the vast but busy lobby, and straight to the surprisingly empty elevator vestibule.

"Where are we going?" Vincent asked as Catherine pushed the UP arrow button.

"To my hotel room. I don't want to risk anyone seeing you."

Catherine was determined and Vincent didn't argue. The pair stepped into the unoccupied elevator and Catherine quickly hit the number for her floor then the button to close the elevator doors, not wanting anyone to ride in the elevator with them.

"Catherine, I'm sorry." Vincent's voice was quiet, "You're right. I shouldn't have come here. I guess I just wanted to have one more dance with you."

Catherine looked up at Vincent, his eyes were sad as he stared back into hers. She could feel the pain he was feeling, not being able to enjoy an event like tonight's with her but instead having to go back into the shadows to hide, not being able to dance with her like they once did at her father's wedding reception. Even that was a huge risk but it was one Vincent was willing to take again, just to be with Catherine out in a crowd and to feel 'normal' once more.

"Vincent, I would love to dance with you like that again... not having to hide from anyone, not caring if anyone saw us," Catherine smiled softly. She didn't want him to think she was ashamed of him, it was never that. In fact, she wished she could show him off!

"But the reality is, I'm a wanted man." Vincent looked down, shook his head then sighed. "So yeah, no worries. I get it."

"It won't be like this forever," Catherine tried to sound hopeful and she truly was but she needed to convince Vincent. "Someday things will be better. I know they will, Vincent. Things _will_ go in our favor someday. It might take awhile, but that day will come."

"I guess, in the meantime, you don't need me coming around and mucking things up, yeah?" Vincent grinned, feeling a little bit better.

Catherine giggled, "I just need you to stay safe and under the radar, that's all!"

The elevator doors finally opened up to her floor and Vincent followed Catherine to her room. Once inside, they were both blown away by the accommodations. A spacious granite and marble bathroom with a large glass encased shower for two people, cherry wood furnishings, and an extremely welcoming king-sized bed fitted with luxurious Filo D' Oro linens.

"Wow... this is _very_ nice," Vincent nodded as he scanned the room.

"This is amazing," Catherine smiled wide as she stood in front of the floor to ceiling windows and stared out at their spectacular panoramic view of Central Park and Midtown that being on the 46th floor gave them. "What a gorgeous view we have!"

"Wow, that is a nice view," Vincent stood behind Catherine, his hands on her waist. "This whole suite is amazing."

"Well, my Dad does like to make sure his daughters are quite comfortable," Catherine laughed.

"Is Heather staying here, too?"

"Yeah, but not with me. She actually has her own suite as well," Catherine turned to face Vincent and placed her hands over his chest. "So we have this lovely room all to ourselves for the whole night."

"I like that," Vincent grinned then lowered his head and placed a gentle kiss on Catherine's soft lips. He pulled back just a few inches to look at her, she opened her eyes and smiled softly up at him.

"I figured you would," Catherine giggled then she noticed Vincent had a slightly sad look in his eyes. "Are you okay?" she asked, a little worried.

"Yeah," Vincent nodded slowly. "It's just, sometimes I still can't believe that you're with me. It's like I wonder if I'm dreaming all of this... of being with you... and if it is a dream, then I don't want to wake up."

Catherine looked deep into Vincent's eyes. She wished so much that there was a place they could go live where Vincent wouldn't have to hide. Where Muirfield would never find them. She placed her hand at the side of his face, her fingers gently touching the stubble along his jaw.

"But it's not a dream," she spoke softly, "and I'm not going anywhere... not without you."

Vincent let out a breath and smiled. "I love you, Catherine."

"I love you, too, Vincent."

They kissed each other tenderly, then Catherine turned around to look out the window again. Vincent held her from behind and she leaned back against him as they both admired their wondrous view of the city.

"It really is beautiful, isn't it?" Catherine said quietly.

"It is." Vincent kissed the top of her head, then focused on the reflection of Catherine in the window. "But not as beautiful as you."

Catherine smiled, she could see Vincent looking at her faint reflection and so she looked at his as well. His arms around her, her hands over his, their fingers entwined.

"I can see you," she said and leaned the back of her head against his chest, "... can you see me?"

"Yes."

"Do you think anyone can see us?"

"From the street? No way... not from this far up. Unless they have binoculars," Vincent kept one arm wrapped around her, his other hand he used to move her hair to one side, exposing the side of her neck to him. "Why?" he asked, then placed a tender kiss at the bottom of her neck, then another, and another, slowly working his way up to behind her ear lobe.

Catherine closed her eyes, "Mmmm... just wondering..."

"Just wondering, huh?" Vincent smirked against her neck. He took in a deep whiff of her fragrance, the smell of her hair, the scent of her perfume. _She smells so good..._

"Uh-huh... just wondering."

Catherine smiled and opened her eyes to look at their reflection again. As shocked as she was to see him show up at her Dad's function, she had to admit she was glad to see him. _And he looks so handsome!_ Just as handsome as when he showed up at her Dad's wedding. She leaned her body against his as she watched Vincent nuzzle his face into the curve of her neck. His hands moved slowly from her hips upwards to the indents of her small waist. A surge of great warmth radiated through her as she felt the tip of his tongue trace lightly up the side of her neck, to her ear lobe, then seductively trace the outer curve of her ear.

"Vincent," she moaned in an almost inaudible whisper, "kiss me."

She turned her face and tilted her head back, Vincent readily and quickly obliged. He covered her waiting mouth with his and pushed his anxious tongue in to meet hers. Their kisses were ravenous, insatiable, as if they were star-crossed lovers kissing for the first time. He reached up with one hand to cup her face and she turned her body slightly towards him as their tongues dueled together, twirling, pushing, sucking. Vincent pulled back a moment, gasping for breath and his voice husky he whispered, "Let's move to the bed."

"No," Catherine whispered back, "I want you right here... right now..."

Vincent looked at Catherine's beautiful face, her lids heavy and barely concealing the lust for him in her eyes. Her pillowy lips yearning for his mouth once more. He slowly swiped his thumb along the breadth of her kiss-swollen bottom lip. Catherine closed her eyes and when he swiped along her lip once more, he could feel the tip of her tongue press gently against the pad of his thumb. When she erotically sucked his thumb into her hot wet mouth and her tongue swirled around it, Vincent's nerves were on edge. Catherine opened her eyes to stare into Vincent's own heavy-lidded eyes. She could easily see the desire and yearning he had for her in his expression. Still staring deep into his eyes, her mouth sucking tightly on his thumb, she very slowly pulled him out of her mouth.

"I want you, Vincent," she whispered, pressing a kiss against the pad of his thumb.

"Jeezus, Catherine," he muttered. He placed his hands at the sides of her face and Catherine turned her body to completely face him. Her eyes closed and her mouth open, Vincent immediately covered her mouth with his. He pushed his tongue deep in her mouth and Catherine sucked hard, heat rushing through her body as she yearned to feel more of him.

Their kisses were frenzied and their hands frantically groped each other. Catherine practically ripped the buttons off of Vincent's shirt desperately wanting to rub her hands over his well chiseled torso. Vincent was equally anxious to feel every inch of Catherine, seconds later her dress fell to a puddle of fabric onto the floor. It wasn't long after that she was topless and her shapely perky breasts were being squeezed in Vincent's large hands.

"Oh Vincent... yess..." she moaned as his tongue circled one puffy nipple, then the other before taking her breast into his hot mouth.

They've made slow passionate love together numerous times and each time was always new and exciting, never ever dull. Tonight though, Catherine was feeling exceptionally naughty and she was lusting for him more than ever. Maybe it was because he caught her completely by surprise showing up at her father's event tonight. Maybe it was because he oozed so much confidence tonight even though he was out in public surrounded by crowds of people. Maybe it was because during the short time he was in the banquet hall, she noticed so many other women looking at Vincent with more than a passing glance, more than a passing curiosity at this man with a scar on his extremely handsome face. He was indeed just as handsome as the night he showed up at her father's wedding reception. Even though he wasn't wearing a tux tonight, the fitted dress shirt he had on really complimented his broad shoulders, strong arms, and well-shaped torso. Maybe it was all of that and more because she could sense that Vincent wanted her right now just as much as she wanted him.

Catherine bit her bottom lip, her hand gripped onto the back of Vincent's neck, her other hand squeezed the top of his strong shoulder as Vincent's hot mouth hungrily devoured her breasts, licking, sucking, gently biting and nibbling, his tongue pressing and flicking at her stiff nipples. Vincent ripped her flimsy lace panty from her body then released her breast from his mouth so he could look upon his lady love. Catherine stood naked in front of him, wearing only her nude thigh high silk stockings and her stiletto heels.

"You're so fucking sexy, Catherine," he muttered, his voice husky. He pulled her body to him, her kiss swollen breasts pressed and rubbed against his bare chest as their mouths and tongues found each other again. Vincent's large strong hands squeezed her lucious ass, leaning into her as he moved one hand lower underneath her between her legs, his fingers finding her hot wet slit.

"Unhh..." Catherine moaned, sucking Vincent's tongue as he easily slid his finger inside her.

Vincent groaned into her mouth as he pushed his middle finger slowly in and out of her.

"Ohh Vincent... I want you..." she moaned breathlessly against his lips. She rubbed her hands down the length of his exquisitely sculptured torso, then expertly undid Vincent's belt and pants. She reached into his boxer briefs, wrapping her fingers around him, her hand gripping up and down his rock hard manlihood.

Their kisses grew even more anxious as Catherine pleasured him with her hands and Vincent's fingers massaged her delicate wet flesh. Heat consumed their bodies and an inferno of pure raging desire coursed through their veins, their nerves on edge yearning to have their bodies unite as one. Vincent could hardly bear waiting much longer. Catherine's hands squeezing and tugging his very hard erection and her adventurous naughtiness to get intimate in front of the uncovered window woke an almost animalistic hunger in him. He wanted her badly, he needed to be inside of her, to feel her tight warmth around him.

"Turn around," Vincent growled.

Catherine immediately released him from her grip and did as he commanded. She faced the window, her palms pressed flat against the thick glass panels. Her body anxious for him to fill the void she felt when he removed his fingers from between her legs.

Catherine bit her lip as Vincent's hands grasped at her tender swollen breasts, massaging and squeezing them. She could feel the length of his hardness pressing against her ass. "... oh Vincent... I want you..."

Suddenly Vincent grabbed her by the waist and pulled her towards him, her palms slid down slightly as she leaned forward, now bent at the waist, her legs spread a bit more. Vincent looked down at his beauty in front of him. His hands squeezed her perfect round ass, and as she bent a little lower, he could see her slit revealing her moist pink flesh underneath. He licked his lips and dropped to his knees.

"OH GAWD, VINCENT!" Catherine yelped as Vincent's mouth pleasured her, his ever talented tongue circled and flicked at her engorged clit. She arched her back and leaned over a bit more, her hands pressing against the cool glass window. Her voice caught in her throat as breathless moans escaped her. Vincent's mouth clamped onto her super sensitive tissue and his tongue moved so quickly that it didn't take long for Catherine to reach an incredible, mind-blowing climax, her body shivering against his mouth.

"UNHH!" she moaned out as she came and just as her body was still shaking from her orgasm, Vincent stood up behind her, his large hands gripped her hips, his fingers pressed firmly into her skin and he anxiously pushed the tip of himself into her quivering entrance. Catherine's palms and forearms pressed against the glass for support as she arched her back even more, bending lower for Vincent. She looked up for just a moment and saw Vincent's reflection in the window, his eyes flashed gold but he didn't change, he was still her Vincent, the man. Vincent grabbed hold of Catherine's waist and pushed the entire length of his hard thickness into her trembling, tight wet center. The beast in him wanted to claim Catherine and although Vincent maintained control, he thrust hard and fast over and over again, deep into Catherine.


End file.
